taken control over Egypt and Al-Sis1 would still have taken it back a short time after. ¢ Syria would still have been embroiled in a bitter civil war. And Iran — would still be striving for regional hegemony and nuclear military capability. e The reasons for all the above are deeply rooted in the history of the nations and the region — and do not stem from the Israeli Palestinian conflict (they may be related to it in another way, which I will get to later on). ¢ In the new reality forged by the "Arab Spring," there is good news and bad news for us. Let's start with the bad news: ISIS, the disintegration of Syria, the events in Iraq — all of these are bad news that prove to us, time and time again, that the Middle East is indeed a tough neighborhood. There is no mercy for the HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_028890