Kerry Wrestles With Egypt and Turkey, Because Gaza Isn't Tough Enough
By Sangwon Yoon and Terry Atlas Jul 24, 2014 11:01 AM ET
As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry labors to end the violence in Gaza and Israel, he’s confronting hostility and suspicion among Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, whose rival agendas and diplomatic jockeying bring new difficulty to the negotiations.
The top U.S. diplomat hurriedly departed for the Middle East this week with his customary eagerness to tackle complex international issues. “We’ve got to get over there,” Kerry told an aide in a phone call picked by Fox News microphones as he made the rounds of Sunday talk shows. “It’s crazy to be sitting around.”
Once he arrived in Cairo, Kerry encountered obstacles beyond the open warfare between Israel and Hamas and the bitter legacy of their two previous wars in six years. He’s also confronted hostility and suspicion among the longtime regional partners.
In this fractured environment, Kerry has a key role to play in trying to bring about a cease-fire, said Mohamed Elmenshawy, a resident fellow at the Middle East Institute, a Washington policy group.
“The U.S. is still the only superpower, the most influential in the region,” he said in a phone interview. “While that influence has declined in the last few years, it’s still the biggest foreign player on all Mideast issues, especially the Arab-Israeli one.”
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-23/kerry-s-gaza-truce-bid-undercut-by-rifts-in-region.html
