The Philadelphi Corridor and Hamas' bid to Survive
When Israel withdrew its forces and settlements from Gaza, 19 years ago, it was a unilateral move only as far as the Palestinian Authority was concerned. There was an agreement between Israel and Egypt regarding the border between Egypt’s Northern Sinai district at Rafah and the Gaza Strip, code-named Philadelphi on Israeli maps. This 14 kilometer ribbon of sand and land, from the Mediterranean to Rafah, became the focus of major smuggling activities in both directions, enabling Hamas to bolster its arsenal and build its vast tunnel network. Now that the IDF is in control of Philadelphi, it turned into both a strategic as well as a political bone of contention, with the Netanyahu school claiming that Israel must stay there regardless of cost and the defense establishment pushing it down the priority list, compared to other assets and needs.
In order to analyse it, we are joined by:
Panel:
- Host : Jonathan Hessen : Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
- Editor at Large : Amir Oren : Host of Watchmen Talk and Powers in Play
- Col. (Res.) Miri Eisin : Powers-in-Play Panelist; Israeli Public Diplomacy, Security and Intelligence Expert at ICT, Reichman University
- Prof. Russell Berman : Senior Advisor at the US State Dept and Director of the Middle East project, Hoover Institute
Jerusalem Studio
The program offers the viewer deeper understanding about current events in Israel. The topics vary from domestic and foreign policy to social changes, archaelogy and religion.
The program is hosted by TV7 Israel News anchor Jonathan Hessen.
