for more on the gaza conflict we're joined in washington by our senior national security analyst, juan zarate. juan, good evening. >> good evening, margaret. >> brennan: what exactly is egypt trying to accomplish? >> well, egypt is trying to broker a cease-fire here. they want the violence to stop. they also want to demonstrate that they can serve as a regional power, they can bring peace, and for the sake of president morsi and the muslem brotherhood running egypt they want to consolidate power and get the economy running. they don't want a war to be starting on their doorstep at a time when they are not in full control in cairo. >> reporter: egypt and israel are the top recipients of u.s. foreign aid. what kind of leverage does the u.s. have? >> president obama has pledged $1 billion in aid to the egyptian government. that money is incredibly important to the egyptians. their economy has been faltering. in addition, the egyptian military receives almost $1.3 billion per year from the united states. in addition, the egyptian government is looking for support from other actors, like the inter