Released in Ukraine this summer, the film Dovbush has as its title character a semi-legendary, Robin Hood-like figure who lived in 18th-century Ukraine. The film, apparently drawing on Jewish legends, portrays Dovbush encountering Israel ben Eliezer—the founder of Hasidism, known as the Ba’al Shem Tov (“good master of the Name”) or Besht—a contemporary of Dovbush who lived in the same area of Ukraine. The Ba’al Shem Tov is played by Luzer Twersky, an actor and former Hasid who often plays religious Jewish characters. Jon Kalish writes:

As the Besht, Twersky gets less than five minutes of screen time in the nearly two-hour film—he appears in three scenes. In the first, he encounters Dovbush who is in chains and assures the Besht, who had been submerging himself in a stream that served as a mikveh, that he’s not a thief. “Who could ever think that?” replies the Besht.

Dovbush asks the Besht if he is alone. “One is never alone,” the Besht replies. “But other than me, there is no one else here.”

Concluded in 1979, the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty ended nearly 30 years of intermittent warfare, and proved one of the most enduring and beneficial products of Middle East diplomacy. But Egypt may not have been upholding its end of the bargain, write Jonathan Schanzer and Mariam Wahba:

Article III, subsection two of the peace agreement’s preamble explicitly requires both parties “to ensure that that acts or threats of belligerency, hostility, or violence do not originate from and are not committed from within its territory.” This clause also mandates both parties to hold accountable any perpetrators of such acts.

Recent Israeli operations along the Philadelphi Corridor, the narrow strip of land bordering Egypt and Gaza, have uncovered multiple tunnels and access points used by Hamas—some in plain sight of Egyptian guard towers. While it could be argued that Egypt has lacked the capacity to tackle this problem, it is equally plausible that it lacks the will. Either way, it’s a serious problem.

Was Egypt motivated by money, amidst a steep and protracted economic decline in recent years? Did Cairo get paid off by Hamas, or its wealthy patron, Qatar? Did the Iranians play a role? Was Egypt threatened with violence and unrest by the Sinai’s Bedouin Union of Tribes, who are the primary profiteers of smuggling, if it did not allow the tunnels to operate? Or did the Sisi regime take part in this operation because of an ideological hatred of Israel?