By J. E. Dyer
The U.S. is being made to look weak in Egypt, and is actually acting weak with allies and foes alike.
For the first time in 2,000 years, there will be no Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services at the Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue in Alexandria in 5773, reports Daniel Greenfield in "In The Point." This was the last active synagogue in Egypt. The Egyptian authorities' excuse for the shut-down, effectively outlawing High Holiday services in the […]
In the wake of Egyptian President Morsi's recent visit to China, Morsi returns to Egypt with 8 partnership deals and a 71 million dollars gift to his government. The deals are in the fields of agriculture, environment, communications, tourism, as well as to import Chinese cars for the Egyptian police force. One of the deals […]
The world often thinks of the Gaza Strip, home to 1.4 million Palestinians, as one of the poorest places on earth, where people live in misery and squalor. But an investigative report shows that it is home to at least 600 millionaires, who have made their wealth thanks to the hundreds of underground tunnels between Gaza and Egypt.
According to the Egyptian newspaper, Al-Masry Al-Youm, due to negotiations between Egypt and jihadists groups, "Operation Eagle" has been halted, at least temporarily.
By Barry Rubin
It’s the age of revolutionary Islamism, especially Sunni Islamism. And you better learn to understand what this is all about real fast.
The Egyptians have never proven themselves to be particularly open or honest in their dealings with Israel. At least four wars have been fought between our countries. Peace is a fragile thing that must be nurtured. It must be built on honest dealings and trust. Moving tanks and anti-aircraft missiles violates not only the agreement, but the trust as well.
On Friday, several thousand Egyptians protested against the Muslim Brotherhood and their new Egyptian president Morsi. Protesters marched in Cairo and Alexandria. The Muslim Brotherhood organized a counter-protest at the same time. In clashes between the pro and anti Morsi protesters, at least 13 people were injured.
By Amos Harel
Israel had previously ignored, or sometimes secretly approved, Egyptian violations of the treaty. These always concerned deploying more battalions than agreed, but only for a short period of time, in order to fight the terrorist groups. This time, Cairo is aiming for a more serious goal.
The fact is the U.S. and Israel have been somewhere between sanguine and cautiously happy regarding increased Egyptian concern about jihadists in the Sinai, and have accepted an Egyptian buildup that includes aircraft and helicopter gunships. Israel Radio reported that the deployment includes anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles near the border.
After Egypt has dispatched tanks into the northern Sinai area over the past few weeks, as part of its attempt to combat Islamist terror cells in the peninsula, the Prime Minister’s office has decided that this must stop. Using the White House, Netanyahu sent a sharp message to Cairo to withdraw the tanks immediately.
By Barry Rubin
Saaed Eddin Ibrahim, arguably the Arab world’s leading sociologist and certainly the leading advocate of liberal-Islamist alliance against the old Arab military regimes has now totally changed sides, warning that the Islamists want to hijack power and establish dictatorships. He pleads for Westerners to wake up.
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi told Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday that "Egypt and Palestine are one entity." Morsi, calling to convey holiday greetings in honor of Eid al-Fitr, also told Haniyeh that Egypt will stand by the Palestinians, and stressed the importance of security cooperation between the two countries.
Many Israelis do not know the rules of the game of the Middle East: the more we show enthusiasm for something, the higher its price rises, and the opposite holds true as well: the less interest we express in something, the lower the demanded price will be. If we announce day and night that we want peace with our enemies or to obtain the release of a kidnapped soldier who is in their hands - the price for the peace or the soldier will be more than we can pay.
By Barry Rubin
I want to discuss three articles that I basically agree with to point out how they miss the key issue and thus are somewhat misleading. I’m glad to see these three articles being published but it’s a case of -to quote Lenin- two steps forward, one step back.
Mohamed Gadallah, legal adviser to President Mohamed Morsi, told Egyptian daily Al-Masri Al-Youm that the amendment being considered would seek to reintroduce full Egyptian sovereignty and control over the Sinai peninsula.
By Rabbi Abraham Cooper and Harold Brackman
If there were an Olympics for lying, the winner of this year's gold medal for prevarication would be Egypt’s president, Mohammed Morsi. Of course heads of state lie, but rarely do they display it with such chutzpah. The recent sleight-of-hand involving a president-to-president exchange would shock even cynics.
The circumstances that were created after the murder of the Egyptian soldiers and the failure of the terror act against Israel proves the truth of the saying: "Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan." We can only imagine how great would be the cries of joy in Gaza if 18 Israeli soldiers had been killed, heaven forbid, instead of Egyptians.
By Barry Rubin
Al-Destour, an independent Egyptian newspaper, has just had a full issue seized on charges of “fueling sedition” and “harming the president through phrases and wording punishable by law.”
For years the Egyptians have been trying to erode the Sinai force restrictions set in the peace treaty they signed with Israel. Force restrictions that were a necessary condition for Israel agreeing to restore the Sinai to Egyptian control. The Egyptians see the force restrictions as impinging on their sovereignty. Israel always considered the force restrictions as critical for the Jewish State’s national security.
In addition to the 60 tanks, 400 armored vehicles, 6 gunships and more, Egypt has now introduced mid-range rocket launchers into the Sinai.
If Muslim fanatics cannot tolerate moderate and secular Muslims, why should they be expected to accept those who belong to other faiths?
Channel 2 reports that the Israel's cabinet approved the entry of 6 Gunships (helicopters) in the Sinai. The vote to allow them in was done hastily over the telephone, but not fast enough, as Egypt had already sent them the gunships in without waiting for Israeli approval. Egypt also sent in 60 tanks and 400 […]
The Rylands Haggadah, created in Catalonia Spain sometime around 1330, is a towering masterpiece of Jewish Art. In addition to pages of piyutim surrounded by ornate decorative and figurative micrography, richly decorated Haggadah text and blessings, there is a 13 page miniature cycle depicting the Exodus story from Moses at the Burning Bush to the Crossing of the Red Sea.
By Barry Rubin
You will be reading a lot of accounts of this event mostly saying the same things. But what’s really important?
Egypt deploys helicopter gunships to the Sinai peninsula after President Mohamed Mursi directed the military to take “complete control” of the Sinai. Israel Defense Minister Ehud barak: "I hope that this will be a wakeup call for Egypt regarding the necessity to be sharp and efficient on their side."
By Moshe Herman
Yishai is joined by Dr. Tawfik Hamid, an Egyptian alternative thinker to talk about the situation in Egypt and in the Sinai.
Wouldn't it be logical to expect that before issuing an invitation to Morsi to visit him at the White House, President Obama would ask his future guest how, if he believes that the country must be subjected to Islamic Law, he intends to defend the secular constitution of Egypt?
By Tarek Heggy
A few days ago, en route to the south of Italy, there was a heated exchange between an Italian chief steward and two Egyptian sheikhs wearing the robes of the Egyptian religious university, Al-Azhar. The dispute erupted over where the sheikhs were to sit on the plane: the steward insisted they sit in their assigned seats in economy class, while they insisted on moving to business class. They relayed their extreme displeasure at what they called European arrogance & inflexibility.
By Barry Rubin
The interesting news was not that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was pelted with stuff while visiting Cairo, the important issue was who was doing the pelting. Once upon a time, anti-American radicals threw things at U.S. leaders. But now….the hurlers of objects were people from the Free Egyptians Party and other Egyptian liberals. At the same time, leading Christians refused to meet with Hillary.
During Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to Israel, his Israeli counterpart, Shimon Peres, emitted the following pearl of wisdom: “The peace treaty with Egypt saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers from both sides.”
By Alex Abel
About 45 minutes after she was scheduled to begin, there was still no sign of her. The anticipation and excitement were building as chatter filled the press room. A lady then took the microphone…to tell the crowd that Hillary would be another 40 minutes.
In a briefing before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi said that the election of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi as President of Egypt has brought political Islam to the forefront of politics in the Arab world, but predicted that the Egyptian military would continue to serve as a strong restraint. As a result, he doubted that Egypt would be allowed to drift into Iran's orbit.
By Tarek Heggy
There are those who claim that the Islamization of Egyptian society reflects "the will of the people." But history teaches us that the will of the people is not always beneficial. Eight decades ago, the will of the German people brought Adolf Hitler to power, plunging mankind into genocidal wars and massacres that claimed more than fifty million lives. This example allows us to criticize the current cultural wave sweeping over Egypt.
By Aidan Clay
Egypt's Coptic Christian minority fears that the restoration of parliament, which will grant greater powers to Islamists, will be used to institute Sharia law and stifle religious freedom.
As U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's armored car motorcade was riding through the Egyptian port city of Alexandria where she had given a speech on democratic rights, a tomato hit an accompanying Egyptian official in the face, and shoes and a water bottle were thrown at Hillary's car. Clinton herself was not hit, but she may have been able to hear the taunts of "Monica, Monica" which the protesters were chanting. Protesters in Cairo and Alexandria accused Clinton of cutting a deal with the Muslim Brotherhood, at the expense of Egyptian liberals and non-Islamists.
By Barry Rubin
Here we are in the middle of 2012, and all of the events of the last eighteen months don’t seem to have taught the current administration’s policymakers or its supportive scribes anything. Can’t they even consider: “Hmm, perhaps this “Arab Spring” thing isn’t working out so well … “, or, “Maybe the rapid rise of revolutionary Islamist movements is just a little bit scary. Maybe we should be cautious about promoting it”? Can’t they?
An anonymous U.S. official has said that, in addition to stable relations with Israel, “the U.S. is expecting Egypt to use the good ties that link the Muslim Brotherhood with the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip to curtail any plans that Hamas might have towards escalation with Israel." The U.S. is also expecting President Morsi's Egypt to remain committed to its traditional policy of limited engagement with Iran.
By Barry Rubin
If there is an Islamist president and parliament who pass laws that correspond only to Sharia and who appoint Islamist judges and al-Azhar shaykhs then Egypt will be a Sharia state. No doubt though the Constitution will be interpreted by many Western observers of proof that the Brotherhood and Salafists have moderated.
Frontpagemag.com cites several reports in the Arabic media, that prominent Muslim clerics have begun to call for the demolition of Egypt’s Great Pyramids, or, as Saudi Sheikh Ali bin Said al-Rabi‘I put it, those “symbols of paganism,” which Egypt’s Salafi party has long been planning to cover with wax. According to Frontpagemag.com, Bahrain’s “Sheikh of […]
By Barry Rubin
Because of political reasons and especially due to the ideological monopoly of certain forces over Western institutions, most of the academics, analysts, journalists, and politicians who speak on these issues get away with pushing the moderation thesis. They are virtually never asked to provide proof. This wrong idea thus sets current U.S. policy and creates a great risk of future crisis, instability, repression, and severe damage to U.S. interests.
Whenever the Muslim Brotherhood are asked if Sharia law will be imposed, the response is that their intention is to build a "democratic and civil state" that guarantees freedom of religion and the right to peaceful protest.. But anyone who traces the actions of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists over the past decades -- in Egypt, Tunisia or anywhere else in the Arab world -- will see that their intention is to further Islamize their societies, not to create civil alternatives.
Jordan has managed until now to remain untouched by these problems, and King Abdullah II knew how to navigate matters of the kingdom in a way that the waves of the revolution washing over the rest of the Arab world did not yet wash over his kingdom. But in the past few weeks - mainly since the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco - a different sort of problem is now becoming apparent: the problem of radical political Islam.
The announcement of Clinton's visit comes just after news earlier this week that Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, would visit Israel this summer. "As part of her ongoing consultations with senior Palestinian and Israeli leaders, the Secretary will also meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas" – in Paris. But the State Dept. is vague on a meeting with newly elected Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.
Defense News magazine has reported that Egypt last week seized a large weapons cache, smuggled from Libya into Egypt, not far from the Libyan border. The cache included 138 Grad rockets and 139 Grad warheads, and the Egyptian interior ministry stated that police were searching for two men suspected of attempting to traffic the rockets “to […]
By Tarek Heggy
The Obama administration's support for the Muslim Brotherhood emanates from an extremely flawed understanding of its agenda, which has been unchanged since its inception in 1928. The two pillars of this project have been: First, abolishing the entire judicial and juridical system that was introduced in Egypt in 1883 and was based on the Napoleonic Code. Second, reviving the political vision of a Caliphate, which aims at uniting all Muslim societies under a single ruler.
By Barry Rubin
Lenin once reportedly said that he would get the capitalists to sell him the rope with which to hang them. But Egypt is a far clearer case of such a situation. Will the dhimmis finance the consolidation of the Muslim Brotherhood’s power in Egypt? It sure looks like that will happen though they probably will be cheap about it.
The slogan of the Muslim Brotherhood is "God is our objective, the Qur'an is our law, the prophet is our leader, jihad is our way and death in the name of Allah is our supreme aspiration." Their symbol expresses this ideology well: the color green represents Paradise, two swords in the center express the two avowals of Islam - there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger - and one word, which appears in the Qur'an just once: "Wa-aidu" - "and prepare."
Democracy without a legitimate constitution and a Bill of rights, especially protecting the rights of minorities, can become a very scary thing. What you get is a tyranny of the majority. So the United States, as the world’s foremost democracy and sole superpower, must insist that elected regimes be restrained by a constitution that safeguards against a gravitation toward tyranny.
Egypt’s future remains in flux. On Sunday, Mohammed Morsi of the radical Muslim Brotherhood movement became Egypt’s new president, narrowly defeating the secular Ahmed Shafiq by 52-48 percent. Just two weeks ago, however, Egypt’s military council issued an interim constitution stripping the president of most of his powers. A few days before that, the Supreme Constitutional Court dissolved Egypt’s parliament, controlled by radical Islamic parties, on a legal technicality.
By Ron Kampeas
WASHINGTON – Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi is the declared winner of Egypt’s presidential race and his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, continues to lie near death in a coma – just like the legacy he tried to craft for himself and his country.
By Moshe Herman
Yishai is joined by alternative peace activist Baruch Widen. Together, they discuss the recent presidential election in Egypt and its affect on the relationship between Israel and Egypt.
Ahmed Mohamed Shafik Zaki, who came second in Egypt's presidential runoff election last week, is reported to have boarded a flight to Abu Dhabi fleeing several corruption complaints.
The statement, made by Mohammed Morsi in an interview with Fars News Agency published Monday, seems to contradict comments he made in his televised victory speech, where he offered a vague assurance that he would "preserve international accords and obligations."
By Barry Rubin
What should we make specifically of this most recent event, the certification of al-Mursi’s victory? Certainly, it is another step forward for the Brotherhood toward capturing the most important Arab country. A confident Hamas has launched a war against Israel by firing dozens of cross-border rockets from the Gaza Strip and other means which the “international community” and democratic West are ignoring.
By Aryeh Savir, Tazpit News Agency
Dr. Yehuda Balanga from Bar Ilan University: Egypt is going through extensive changes which may have a drastic effect on its peace accords with Israel. An all-out war with Israel is out of the question, though, as Egypt does not have the financial backing to finance such a costly war. What we can expect to see is a demand for a renegotiation of the accords and a change of some of the parameters.
Morsi's election will have tremendous reverberations beyond Egypt's borders, and not least for Israel, as the Muslim Brotherhood has questioned the validity of the 30-plus year peace treaty between Israel and Egypt; and is also the inspiration for and closely affiliated with Hamas, which rules in Gaza, and borders both Egypt and Israel.
The United Church of Canada Working Group's objectives do not even take into account the Jihadist call to war against Israel , and children being taught in Palestinian schools to hate and kill Jews. This hatred has nothing to do with the so-called "occupation," as Palestinian children are indoctrinated to believe, but is instead fuelled by Israel having a different ideology of true Democracy and Human Rights in a region where most leaders are hostile to both.
By Raheel Raza
Resistance to the establishment of women's rights may be blamed on self-appointed male caretakers of Muslim tradition, who feel threatened by the appearance of a significant number of women in a public space, considered reserved for men only, and who say they see emancipated Muslim women as negative exemplars of Westernization.
JERUSALEM – After terror groups operating from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula launched Grad missiles into the Southern Negev’s Mitzpeh Ramon and Uvda regions last weekend and murdered an Israeli Arab construction worker from Haifa on Monday, Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak took the unusual step of ordering IDF tank units to deploy along portions of Israel’s southern border with Egypt.
TEL AVIV – Egypt’s military coup is now nearly complete. That may be distressing for Egyptian democracy, but it could help the Israel-Egypt relationship.
Dagan and Ashkenazi made their comments on a panel at the 2012 Presidential Conference that included former Presidential adviser Dennis Ross. Dagan said in Egypt it matters not who votes but who counts the vote.
The 10 rockets launched by Hamas in the past 24 hours represent its first rocket barrage in some months, and its claim of responsibility and timing suggests that the escalation is linked to Muhammad Morsi's putative victory in the Egyptian presidential elections.
By Barry Rubin
We are now at the beginning of Egypt’s involvement, directly or indirectly, in a new wave of terrorist assault on Israel. If the Muslim Brotherhood takes over Egypt, a likelihood made less probable perhaps by the military’s dissolution of parliament, this offensive will enjoy official support. Even if the army remains in control, the Brotherhood and Salafists will use their considerable assets to back this new insurgency war.
By Jewish Press Staff Reporter
If official results stand, Mursi will have won Egypt's first post-uprising elections with 51.89 per cent of the vote, succeeding toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak. The ruling military council will "hand over power" on 30 June.
The IDF has re-opened roads and lifted an order for residents to remain in their homes following a deadly attack killing one Israeli along the Israel-Egypt border.
Terrorist infiltrated from Egypt and opened fire with guns, explosives and an RPG against Israeli contractors working on the border fence. 1 Israeli and 2 terrorists were killed in the ensuing gunfight. Communities in the South were in lockdown for 5 hours.
By Barry Rubin
While one can certainly sympathize with the idea of letting an elected parliament being allowed to take office, that's not necessarily such a clear call in strategic terms. The Egyptian parliament--which will write the constitution and thus define the powers of the president--is almost 75 percent rabidly anti-American and antisemitic.
After all of these crimes carried out by the regime that you head, life in Syria will never return to the way it was in the past. It cannot be that the storms of emotion will be calmed as if nothing ever happened. Mr. President, the time has come for you to understand the bitter truth, and so you must pack your suitcases.
An 81 year old Israeli scientist whose revolutionary irrigation methods have saved and improved the lives of millions of people throughout the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South America, has received the prestigious World Food Prize, according to an announcement made by the foundation on Tuesday.
Israel has been threatened since birth by Arab politics in all its forms. Sometimes they send their armies to do battle. Sometimes they use terrorism. Sometimes rockets. Sometimes BDS. Sometimes what threatens Israel is the instability or potential fallout from internecine Arab warfare – as in 1970, when Palestinians threatened King Hussein; and 1991, when Saddam used rockets against Israel during a war in which Israel was not involved.
By Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z"l
Adaptive leadership is called for when the world is changing, circumstances are no longer what they were, and what once worked works no more. There is no quick fix, no pill, no simple following of instructions. We have to change. At a certain point, Moses had to help the Israelites change, to exercise responsibility, to learn to do things for themselves while trusting in God instead of relying on God to do things for them.
By Barry Rubin
Egypt’s fate, I think, will not be settled by the June 16-17 presidential election. It has already been set by the parliamentary election which has given a large majority to the Islamists as well as the ability to write the constitution. If Ahmad Shafiq defeats the Brotherhood candidate, Muhammad al-Mursi, the only way out would be a Shafiq-army alliance, giving the president — who has no political party and no organized base of support in parliament — some muscle.
By Barry Rubin
Let’s remember that the Islamists are still headed for control of Egypt. They might win the presidency in the second round. The parliament, which they run, is going to make the rules and write the constitution. If they don’t like who becomes president, they will reduce his powers.
By Barry Rubin
In an interview on an Egyptian television station, "moderate" Egyptian Presidential candidate Abul Fotouh said he was against “terrorism” but then explained that Usama bin Ladin was not a terrorist, that the United States only called him one in order to “hit Muslim interests,” and that the killing of bin Ladin was an “act of state terrorism.” In other words, he’s saying September 11 wasn't an act of terrorism but that Obama’s policy is anti-Muslim and terrorist.
In anticipation of the historic Presidential elections being held today, the Egyptian Independent offered a survey of the foreign policy platforms of the candidates. Despite their differences, they speak in one voice about the need to restore Egypt to its rightful place of primacy in the Arab world and their hostility towards Israel.
Retired general turned security analyst and Junta spokesman Sameh Seif Al-Yazal told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that rumors about an Israeli military intervention in Egypt are "misguided," because it was "not in Israel’s interest to fight Egypt at the present time, as the situation remained tense with its other neighbors."
By Barry Rubin
If ever I've seen a single sentence that spells disaster in the Middle East, this is it:“`People say things in a campaign and then when they get elected they actually have to govern,’ [U.S. State Department] spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.”
Animosity toward Israel is playing a significant role in the Egyptian presidential race, according to a report by Reuters.
Ampal-American Israel Corp decided to write off its entire 12.5 per cent investment in East Mediterranean Gas, the company that sold Egyptian natural gas to Israel before Egypt called off the exports. Ampal is controlled by Israeli tycoon Yossi Maiman, who put his yacht up for sale this week, as a belt tightening measure.
Egyptian intellectual Tariq Hagi speaks frankly and openly about the many deep flaws that exist in Arab cultures. His message is different from that of most Arab spokesmen, because most Arab spokesmen strive to cover up the flaws in their societies, to conceal them and repress them - mainly because of the shame and the feeling of inferiority that these flaws arouse in them.
The unintended consequence of the hostile cancellation of Egypt's natural gas contract with Israel may result in increased blackouts in Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu's Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan says Israel should consider cutting its supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip this summer in face of predicted power shortages.
By Barry Rubin
When asked whether they preferred to model Egypt on Saudi Arabia or Turkey regarding religion’s role in government, thy chose Saudi Arabia by a 61 to 17 percent margin. Note that Western pundits and experts keep insisting that there is some kind of Turkish model of moderate Islamism. Aside from the fact that Turks aren’t Arabs, this is a sign of the base of support for a fully sharia state.
"In every generation they try to kill us, and the Holy One, Blessed Be He, rescues us from their hands." Every year, for centuries, Jews the world over say these words at the Seder. I paid particular attention this year as this phrase was sung by the golden-voiced Dudu Fisher, a chazzan and Broadway star, who led sedarim at Kutcher's Hotel in the Catskill Mountains.
Cleric Safwat Higazi: "Our capital shall not be Cairo, Mecca, or Medina. It shall be Jerusalem, Allah willing. Our cry shall be: 'Millions of martyrs march toward Jerusalem! Millions of martyrs march toward Jerusalem!"
Some 354,000 visitors arrived in Israel in April 2012, 19% more than in April 2011 and 12% more than in April 2010, Israel’s record tourism year. The number of incoming tourists reached 296,000 in April 2012, 13% more than during the same period last year and 11% more than in April 2010. "The consistent increases […]
By Aryeh Savir, Tazpit News Agency
Hamas Official: "Who are the Palestinians? We have many families whose roots are Egyptians! We are Egyptians. We are Arabs. We are Muslims. We are a part of you".
With two leading Islamist presidential candidates that are backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, chances are high that Egypt will vote an Islamist into the office of president. This will undoubtedly be followed by an Islamist constitution.
Islamist Members of Parliament in Egypt are trying to deprive Egyptian women of their basic rights by introducing several controversial draft laws that, if passed, will bring Egypt back to the Middle Ages.
By Barry Rubin
The result may well be an Islamist versus Islamist run-off. In any event, it is likely that by the end of the year Egypt will have an Islamist president, parliament, and Constitution. Laws will be drastically altered, women’s rights will disappear, and Hamas will be backed up if it attacked Israel.
By JTA
Israel's Foreign Ministry criticized as "absurd" the country's inclusion on a list of countries that restricts the activities of human rights and advocacy groups. Monday's response came after the United Nations' high commissioner for human rights placed Israel on a list that includes Egypt, Belarus, Venezuela, Algeria, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. Israel is the only democratic […]
By Barry Rubin
Egypt will hold its presidential election May 23-24 with a possible run-off June 16-17. It is impossible at this point to predict what’s going to happen but I can make a good guess. Eight weeks from now Egypt will be led by either a radical anti-American Islamist who wants to wipe Israel off the map or by a radical anti-American nationalist who just hates Israel passionately.
By Tibbi Singer
Egypt's International Cooperation Minister Fayza Abul Naga said on Monday that Egypt is prepared to resume gas exports to Israel, but at new rates, after unilaterally canceling its previous, long-term contract, signed in 2005. The Israeli side of the dispute had kept its cool since the original Egyptian announcement, maintaining that there was a businesslike solution to the crisis.
Despite major concerns being raised about the future of peace between Egypt and Israel in the wake of Egypt’s decision to terminate the a contract to provide natural gas to the Jewish State, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Monday that he hopes the dispute will be solved in a business environment, and that relations between the two countries will return to normal.
Egypt’s sudden cancellation of its natural gas treaty with Israel is a flagrant violation of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, according to Israeli officials. Egypt claims that Israel is in “violation of contractual agreements” of the 2005 Egypt-Israel gas deal, a pact decried by leaders of the Arab Spring uprising in Egypt. Since the beginning of […]
When Rabbi Berel Wein began working for the O.U. kashrus division, he shared an office with Rabbi Alexander Rosenberg a’h, the founder of the kashrus division and its administrator for thirty years.
Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, a top Egyptian Islamic cleric, came to Jerusalem to show support for Palestinian claims to eastern Jerusalem on Wednesday, breaking a long-standing taboo imposed by Muslim clerics, professional and private organizations against visiting Israel.
It was thirty years ago, in April 1982, that uniformed soldiers pledged to defend Israel and its citizens were given the order to uproot and destroy the Jewish community of Yamit in northern Sinai. And while it may have brought us three decades of a cold peace with Egypt, conceding the Sinai will likely prove to have been a colossal mistake.
By Tibbi Singer
Inspectors of the Israel Antiquities Authority recently seized two covers of Egyptian sarcophagi that contained ancient mummies in the past. The covers were confiscated by inspectors of the Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery while checking shops in the market place of the Old City in Jerusalem.
Based on data released today by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the first quarter of 2012 registered an all-time record high for incoming tourism to Israel. During the months of January through March, 2012, there has been an increase of 2% compared with the same period last year, and an increase of 1% compared with […]