One of the first challenges for the new Israeli government will be the ongoing crisis in the Gaza Strip. As Hamas’ behavior is not expected to change much in the future, and following the lessons learned from the recent Operation Guardian of the Walls, in order to avoid repeating the same mistakes and expecting a different outcome Israel should draw up a to-do list that includes the following items.  

Lesson #1 Negotiate, discreetly, with the preferred mediator as soon as possible. Regionally, there were two contending parties attempting to mediate the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. The Egyptians, who have been speaking to both sides in previous escalations, and the Qataris, who for years have supported Hamas openly, by providing it with funds — either with Israeli consent or covertly by facilitating money transfers.

Despite Egypt's resentment of Hamas as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, the conflict in Gaza created a rare opportunity where both Egypt and Hamas have a common interest in ending the fighting, each for its own reasons. Egypt sees every armed conflict between Israel and Hamas as a potential trigger for internal unrest. This derives from the contentious peace agreement with Israel and from the possibility that the conflict could buttress the position of the Muslim Brotherhood, Cairo’s archenemy. But it does not mind Israel giving a bloody nose to Hamas.

On the other hand, Qatar — a patron of the Muslim Brotherhood — perceives the confrontation between Israel and Hamas as an opportunity to position itself as a peace mediator, while simultaneously preventing further damage to Hamas. Having said that, Egyptian — and Qatari — efficiency was not put to the test at the early stages of the recent conflict when Hamas openly threatened to target Jerusalem. Utilizing its leverages over Hamas could have helped in creating an Arab front against the Hamas-led escalation and preventing — or shortening — the 11-day armed conflict.