3 Questions From The In-Box

After a week off (mostly), it’s time to clear out the in-box. Here are three interesting questions.

1. What was Hamas trying to accomplish with that nasty Shalit interview on Egyptian TV?

That interview was absolutely abusive.  Shahira Amin says Shalit wasn’t coerced, but how could it have be otherwise? Shalit was alone in Egypt, surrounded by Hamas personnel, pale, gaunt and dazed, and certainly not free to leave the interview. (Where would he have gone?)

My two cents: Hamas hoped Shalit would say something of propaganda value; Amin was a willing participant eager for a scoop.

2. What do you think of that photo of Bibi watching Gilad and Noam Shalit’s reunion?

I don’t know if the prime minister was being deliberately opportunistic or if his official photographer simply failed to get into a position to get a different shot without Netanyahu’s presence.

Since Bibi is Israel’s Forrest Gump this week, I asked our in-house graphic artist, Jeremy Zauder, to have some fun too.

3. What does it mean for Israel that Gaddafi’s dead?

Hard to say. The most pressing concern right now is free-for-all Libyan weapons flooding into Sinai. The rest depends on what kind of post-Gadaffi government emerges. If you’re interested in what this all means for Jews of Libyan descent, see the relevant posts at Point of No Return.