"Court in Egypt Annuls Deal with Israel on Gas Supply"
A12, Wednesday 11/19/08
By Mona El-Naggar
This article discusses an Egyptian court's ruling to stop the government from supplying Israel with natural gas, arguing that the contract "was improperly awarded because it was not approved by Parliament." The author frames the issue from the perspective that Egyptian "officials must walk a tightrope between maintaining relations with their neighbor and mollifying public opinion, which is often hostile to the Jewish state," principally given the Palestinian issue.
This is a misconceived framing of the issue given that the Egyptian government itself, through state-controlled media and institutions, often acts as purveyor of virulently anti-Israel invective and Antisemitism that far transcends opposition to Israeli policies vis-a-vis the Palestinians. In one notorious case, state television aired a 41-part series, Horseman Without a Horse, which promotes the famed Antisemitic forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
The author rightfully highlights the 'Cold Peace' between Egypt and Israel, but it is not simply a measure of the general public's hatred of Israel (bottom to top). The Egyptian government (top to bottom) also disseminates and exploits this hostility against Israel for it own selfish purposes.
So while the Egyptian government clearly maintains relations with Israel, it does very little to cultivate them and often undermines these relations out of its own Machiavellian self-interest.
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This is a pattern, especially with reporting on Egypt. Its government doesn't really walk a tight-rope. It's likely most Egyptians understand peace with Israel is just business and that the government does all it can to "mollify" public opinion. Case in point, Horseman Without a Horse.
ReplyDeleteIt should also be noted that the government not only doesn't encourage travel to Israel, but scrutinizes those few Egyptians who do.