Egypt, Jordan hold firm to moderate credentials

The outline is becoming gradually clear.

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is giving the international community "weeks" to halt Iran's nuclear program and the war of words is intensifying on all fronts, Israel's neighbors are asking themselves on which side of the conflict they would like to find themselves and behaving accordingly.

All Arab states pay lip service to the hardship of the Palestinians but while Syria is embracing Iran and Hezbollah is more obedient than ever to instructions emanating from Tehran, Egypt and Jordan are coordinating security matters with Israel in an impressive way and in the case of Cairo they are even adopting harsh measures against the extremists in the Palestinian camp.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who continues to serve as a de facto Foreign Minister, returned Wednesday from a short visit to Sharm el-Sheikh where he met Egypt's Hosni Mubarak. This is his second diplomatic excursion in the region in less than a week, after his trip to Turkey where he was partially successful in calming the animosity between Ankara and Jerusalem.

In line with an Egyptian request Barak made do with a laconic statement that talks were "productive and extensive. However, where the media is not watching, Israel and Egypt are finding themselves increasingly partners in common and growing interests.

Senior sources in the defense establishment say that the Egyptians are even willing to agree, albeit belatedly, with the Israeli-American conclusion that nothing good will result from Cairo's effort to mediate between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. The Obama administration fears that intra-Palestinian reconciliation would only bolster Hamas at the expense of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad.

Palestinian unity has been understood to mean that a joint government would involve Hamas and that would also present the United States with a constitutional problem.

Legislation passed in Congress would prevent the administration from continuing to give aid to the Abbas-Fayyad government the minute it agrees to include Hamas as a partner. Cairo will not admit it publicly but it appears that its reconciliation initiative is dead.

An Egyptian source says that the mediation efforts stopped because "conditions in the area do not permit it." The source said that the Hamas rejection of an Egyptian compromise proposal, in part because of pressure from Iran and Syria, is preventing progress toward reconciliation.

On the other hand, the Egyptians are now trying to push for the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the PA, even by indirect American mediation.

At the same time, Egypt is continuing the construction of the "steel wall" along its Rafah border with the Gaza Strip and the fight against the smuggling of weapons into the Strip along the entire front. The broad international effort, from the Red Sea to Rafah, is paying dividends. The IDF is confirming that smuggling into the Strip has dropped dramatically. The breaking point in relations between Egypt and Hamas-Hezbollah occurred in late 2008 with the unveiling of an espionage-terrorism network run by Hezbollah in Egypt, and involved in smuggling to the Gaza Strip. But it now appears that relations have reached a new nadir.

Jordan too, which officially makes sure it condemns the actions of the Netanyahu government at every opportunity, especially over the issue of East Jerusalem construction, ensures that effective security coordination with Israel along the border and in other sensitive areas, is maintained. This was evident in the recent intensive investigation of a bomb attempt against a convoy of Israeli diplomats in Jordan. To date dozens of suspects have been arrested, including members of Al Qaeda-affiliated Jordanian groups and also those who apparently were in close touch with Hezbollah.

A third possibility is that Hamas, which has in the past operated in the Hashemite Kingdom, was behind the bombing. Publicly the Jordanians are keen to stress that Israeli security involvement is restricted to arrangements for safeguarding the diplomats.

The drawn-out blockade of the Gaza Strip and the Egyptian security measures, are making life difficult for the Hamas leadership there. The Egyptians have also began restricting the exit of senior Hamas officials through the Rafah crossing.

Little, if any, of the $4 billion promised last year for the rebuilding of the Strip after the Israeli onslaught a year ago has reached Hamas and the group is finding it hard to show achievements in any area of management. Nonetheless, its rule in the Strip remains tight.

Meanwhile, in the background, the power struggle within Hamas continues between the Gaza leadership and that in Damascus. Syria-based Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshal has embarked on an effort to reorganize the structure of the organization in an effort to bolster his power at the expense of the Gaza leadership.

Where does this leave a deal to free captured soldier Gilad Shalit?

Not in the headlines, and as far as it is known, not particularly close to implementation. Since the last round of mediation by a German official earlier this month, things have been quiet. The Palestinians are blaming the Netanyahu government for not keeping promises made by its predecessors, while Israel expects Hamas to be more flexible. An Egyptian source told Haaretz earlier this week: "Putting together the deal is a matter of political will, not an issue of who the mediator is. If the sides wish it, there will be a deal soon."