As ZOA Expected, Egypt Becoming Foe of Israel & U.S.

As the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) predicted a year ago when the Mubarak regime was pushed from power in Cairo, Egypt has deteriorated into a hostile, Islamist state that is increasingly hostile to Israel and the U.S.

The past year has witnessed elections that have seen the Muslim Brotherhood emerge as the largest party with an overall Islamist majority in the Egyptian parliament, the seizure of American citizens and now, in recent days, the parliament has moved toward a vote to refuse accepting more than $1.6 billion in U.S. aid. The 508-seat chamber also voted to start the process of a no-confidence vote in the military-backed government of Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri, a move that, if successful, could spark a political crisis with just under four months left before the military is scheduled to hand over power to a civilian administration (Hamza Hendawi, ‘Egypt parliament to consider cutting off US aid,’ Boston Globe, March 11, 2012).

Also, the Egyptian parliament is demanding cutting ties with Israel over what it called Israel’s “barbaric attacks” its strikes against terrorists in Gaza. The People’s Assembly, Egypt’s lower house, drafted a list of demands endorsed unanimously, calling for the deportation of the Israeli ambassador in Egypt, halting export of natural gas to Israel, and “reexamining” the Camp David peace accords with Israel. The statement reads, “Revolutionary Egypt will never be a friend or ally of the Zionist regime which we consider the primary enemy of Egypt and its Arab people,” read the unusually strong-worded statement. “[Egypt] will treat this entity as an enemy. The government is urged to reexamine its relations and agreements with this enemy.” The parliamentary recommendations, elaborated in eight articles, also include extending aid to the Palestinians; adopting “all forms of resistance” against Israel; and urging the Arab League to oppose the Judaization of Jerusalem (Elhanan Miller, ‘Egyptian parliament demands to cut ties with Israel over Gaza,’ Times of Israel, March 12, 2012).

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “Last year, when Hosni Mubarak’s government began to totter, the ZOA warned against a change of government in Egypt as likely to result in an anti-American, anti-Israel regime. We warned at the time that, though Hosni Mubarak was no democrat, friend of Israel or even reliable ally of the U.S., his regime at least maintained a semblance of peace and cooperated with the U.S. in fighting violent Islamist groups like Al-Qaeda. We said that the net result of pushing his regime off the stage would be to empower the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and other radical Islamic groups and lead eventually to such groups holding sway in Egypt and turning the country into an enemy of Israel and the U.S. 

“Regrettably, after only twelve months, it is abundantly clear that this is what has occurred. Egypt has become a backer of Hamas in Gaza. The oil pipeline to Israel has been repeatedly bombed and disrupted. Israeli diplomats have been endangered in Cairo. American citizens have been detained – an extraordinary event in the history of the U.S./Egyptian alliance. Muslim Brotherhood figures call openly for ending the peace treaty with Israel. And now, the Egyptian parliament want to end U.S. aid and expel the Israeli ambassador. It did not have to be this way.

“Regrettably, the Obama Administration, which pressured Mubarak to step down, engaged and legitimized the Muslim Brotherhood and encouraged early elections in a country in which polls have shown Egyptian opinion to be very radical and illiberal, believes the Muslim Brotherhood is neither radical nor a threat. Events are already showing otherwise.”