Egypt unrest: Turkey row deepens Israeli isolation

Egyptian authorities renew commitment to peace treaty with Tel Aviv, warn of ‘harsh measures’ to quell civil...

JERUSALEM:

Already embroiled in a fierce diplomatic row with former friend and ally Turkey, Israel found itself in fresh crisis on Saturday with Egypt after crowds trashed its Cairo embassy.

Israel has few friends in the Muslim world, and the chill on two fronts further deepens its isolation ahead of Palestinian plans to seek full membership in the United Nations.

The overnight attack on the mission was the worst since Israel set up its mission in Egypt, the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state, in 1979.

Since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster in February after a revolt, activists have called for a revision of the peace treaty with Israel.

“The mob attack on the Israeli embassy is a serious incident,” Israeli news website Ynet on Saturday quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying. But hours later, he reiterated Israel’s commitment to peace with Egypt. “We are committed to preserving peace with Egypt,” Netanyahu said in a radio address.

“It was a painful blow to the peace between us and a grave violation of diplomatic norms,” an Israeli official told AFP on condition of anonymity, but added that a senior diplomat stayed behind after the ambassador Yitzhak Levanon and his staff were evacuated, to maintain delicate ties with Egypt.

Cairo declared a state of alert and warned of harsh measures to quell civil unrest. After a meeting with the ruling military council, Information Minister Osama Heikal had harsh words for the violence and said authorities will take all necessary steps to preserve order, including the protection of embassies. Calling the unrest an “attack on Egypt’s image,” he said “it is clear that the behaviour of certain people menaces the Egyptian state in its entirety”.  Consequently, the “security forces will have recourse to all necessary measures, including the right to legitimate self defence, to preserve the security of the homeland.” He also said Cairo would apply “all articles” of an emergency law in force for 30 years that provides greater powers to the judiciary and police. And he affirmed Egypt’s “total commitment to respecting international conventions.”

Israel’s Egyptian woes came hard on the heels of the worst exchange yet with Turkey, after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday threatened to send warships to escort any Turkish vessels trying to breach Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

On Friday, Netanyahu’s office said that the cabinet had considered various responses to a further worsening of already stormy relations with Turkey, but had not taken action.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2011.