News
Egypt remains committed to peace with Israel, officials say
Top Egyptian officials have reassured Israeli diplomats that Egypt is committed to its peace deal with Jerusalem, and will act to uphold it. According to the reports, these messages were relayed to outgoing Israeli Ambassador to Egypt Yitzhak Levanon from Egyptian intelligence chief Murad Muwafi, Foreign Minister Kamal Amr and other senior officials. Levanon made a farewell visit to Cairo on Sunday and Monday.
Despite the conciliatory message from Cairo, the state of affairs in Egypt is still uncertain, and yesterday Israel’s political-security Cabinet convened for more than eight hours to discuss regional developments. The meeting was an annual intelligence assessment compiled by the Shin Bet, the Mossad, Military Intelligence and the Foreign Ministry, but the circumstances in Egypt and likely scenarios were key topics of discussion. According to a report in Maariv, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz presented ministers with an assessment of the possible outcomes in case Egypt annuls the agreement with Israel. This scenario is considered, however, extremely unlikely at this point.
In Egypt, meanwhile, 30 people have died in recent days in protests against the rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), led by current acting President Mohammed Hussein Tantawi. Protesters have rejected a promise issued by SCAF yesterday to accelerate the transition to civilian rule. Protesters at mass rallies in Cairo are demanding the immediate resignation of Tantawi. The acting president yesterday announced that presidential elections would now be held in the summer of 2012. This was seen as a significant concession, since the ruling council had originally planed to hold presidential elections as late as 2013. This had led protestors to suspect that the military was seeking to extend its rule, possibly indefinitely. The Muslim Brotherhood, which is expected to make major gains in parliamentary elections set to commence next week, has pronounced itself satisfied with Tantawi’s concessions, but crowds are continuing to gather in Cairo and Alexandria demanding his resignation.