John Kerry faces more obstacles than realistic prospects for his many small steps toward reviving the Middle East peace process and bring Hamas as well as Abu Mazen to the negotiating table. For this he is counting on help from the Turkish prime minister and Qatari emir.

Visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry talked at length to Egyptian President Morsi in Cairo, Sunday, March 3, about Egypt’s calamitous economic straits, relations with Israel, democratization and essential reforms. Morsi nodded politely but, debkafile reports, was completely wrapped up in the ongoing plan he and the Muslim Brotherhood had hatched for Islamizing Egypt and seizing 100 percent of parliament in the next election – April or June. Washington warns that delay in coming to grips with the economic crisis would be suicidal.

The Gulf rulers including Saudi Arabia refuse to spend a petrocent for bailing Egypt out of its economic morass since discovering that the ruling Muslim Brotherhood’s first priority is gaining 100 percent control of parliament and only then grappling with the economy.

Turkey’s resumption of strategic cooperation with Israel through NATO is a major breakthrough for Binyamin Netanyahu. He is constantly accused of bringing Israel into deep international isolation as he runs for reelection. NATO and Turkey undercut that charge. Barack Obama worked hard to heal the breach between Ankara and Jerusalem - both to strengthen his burgeoning pro-US Middle East axis and to pave the way for the resuscitation of Israel-Palestinian peace talks in March, 2013 in accord with Netanyahu.

The US approved 20 F-16 fighter planes for Egypt, part of a $1 billion foreign aid package, Tuesday, Dec. 11, the day scheduled for massive rival demonstrations for and against President Mohamed Morsi’s constitutional referendum Saturday, Dec. 15.  The first four jets will be delivered the day after Barack Obama’s swearing-in as president, and coincide with Israel’s January 22 elections. Obama is telling the Middle East that he stands by his backing for the Muslim Brotherhood, including the radical Palestinian Hamas.

President Obama admires President Morsi and wants him aboard his burgeoning anti-Iran Sunni alliance. The Egyptian street is baying for his blood.

The Gaza operation was an exercise in deception, designed by six intelligence chiefs to trigger two coups – one to restore Mohamed Morsi’s powers as Egyptian president and the other to purge Hamas of its pro-Iranian elements.

President Morsi is already being challenged by opponents in his own Muslim Brotherhood for his effort to calm the Gaza conflict instead of launching a holy war against Israel. Washington has let him know that to obtain desperately needed US aid, he must play ball for blocking Iran’s arms ...

The trio conducting Israel’s Gaza operation are reexamining their plan to launch a ground offensive now in view of strong pressure from US President Barack Obama to desist - although he solidly supported the Israeli operation until now. Netanyahu, Barak and Lieberman are weighing three options: Sending troops into Gaza regardless; delaying ground action until Wednesday or: launching immediate ground sorties  to test the ground. An Israeli delegation flew to Cairo when Obama insisted on giving failed truce talks another chance.

Brotherhood strongman Khairat el-Shater has moved into the presidential palace in Cairo and is edging President Mohamed Morsi out of his powers and spheres of action, especially in foreign policy.

By shunning the “terrorist’ label, denying al Qaeda was still alive and kicking, and espousing the Muslim Brotherhood, Barak Obama exposes the United States to one strategic debacle after another.

Hundreds of Palestinians lobbing rocks clashed with Jerusalem police Friday as they marched from Temple Mount, Jerusalem, to Damascus Gate - their first protest against the anti-Muslim film made in the US. Mounted police using stun grenades stopped them reaching the US consulate. Protests erupted too in the Gaza Strip and the Israel Bedouin town of Rahat. Islamists continued to batter the US embassies in Cairo and Sanaa, riot in Bangladesh and Lebanon and also attack the British and German embassies in Khartoum.

As Morsi scrounges for crumbs from affluent world leaders to ease Egypt’s economic distress, he runs up against a Salafist fatwa banning international credit on which interest is payable as a violation of Muslim tenets.

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu are to meet at the White House on Sept. 27, debkafile reports. This timeline indicates that the prime minister is inclined to accommodate President Obama by delaying an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear program again until after the US presidential elections on Nov. 6. President Morsi is to go shopping in Beijing for the same nuclear-capable missiles as Saudi Arabia has acquired. Both seek détente with Tehran while Israel dithers over preempting its nuclear weapon.

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood president while smiling at Washington in the hope of US aid, is also making eyes at Tehran.

After taking over the army, the Egyptian Muslim Brother is after bigger prey, the Interior Ministry’s 900,000-strong forces, which are three times the size of the army.

Iran will have 250 kilograms of 20-percent grade uranium, enough to build its first nuclear bomb, in six weeks, debkafile’s military and intelligence sources report. That deadline prompted Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s comment Sunday, Aug. 12: “All threats against the home front are dwarfed by one – Iran must not be allowed to have nuclear arms!”  He was followed 8 hours later by the Muslim Brotherhood coup in Cairo - and a tough security dilemma born of his long foot-dragging on Iran.

In a lightning move, Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi sacked and replaced the Egyptian Defense Minister, Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the Egyptian chief of staff Gen. Hafez Sami Annan and three more generals, Sunday Aug. 12. He also ordered M-60 tanks moved up to the Israeli border. debkafile was the only publication to report that the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi were exploiting the terrorist attacks in Sinai to rid Cairo of the pro-Western military control of the Egyptian government.

Israel willingly acceded to Cairo’s request for permission to deploy fighter planes and armored troop carriers in Sinai - a demilitarized buffer zone under their 1979 peace treaty – in support of President Mohamed Morsi’s counter-terror offensive against lawless Islamist bands. debkafile reports: It was soon realized in Washington and Jerusalem that the “offensive” was largely bogus and being used less for eliminating Salafi terrorists and more for purging the Egyptian military of pro-Western influence and promoting its takeover by the Muslim Brotherhood.