M. M. Lieberman: Should Israel Revisit Egypt Peace Deal?
[The writer is a fellow with the Truman National Security Project, and an international attorney in Washington, DC.]
Unlike the Passover story Israelis will soon commemorate, the liberation tale playing out in Egypt today leaves many Jews conflicted. Witnessing the Egyptian people cast off their millennial shackles resonates deeply for the descendants of that country’s Hebrew slaves. Yet the modern-day pharaohs’ more recent attempts to destroy the Jews have put security ahead of idealism as Israel’s highest priority. With the hard-won peace treaty now thrown into doubt, this tension seems difficult to reconcile.
Although the military has offered assurances that the country will respect the treaty, the army’s voice in a democratic Egypt may not be the only one that counts. Unfortunately, the sounds coming from erstwhile civilian leaders are not reassuring.
For prominent Muslim Brotherhood figures to condemn the treaty is worrying, but to be expected.
More alarming is that leading liberal lights are echoing their refrain. Ayman Nour, head of the secular Ghad Party, recently declared the peace treaty “over”; at the least, he said, it must be renegotiated.
Mohamed ElBaradei, far from proclaiming the treaty “rock solid,” as has been reported, in fact pronounced its vitality dependent on progress with the Palestinians. Such statements must give pause to even the most optimistic Israelis...
Read entire article at Jerusalem Post
Unlike the Passover story Israelis will soon commemorate, the liberation tale playing out in Egypt today leaves many Jews conflicted. Witnessing the Egyptian people cast off their millennial shackles resonates deeply for the descendants of that country’s Hebrew slaves. Yet the modern-day pharaohs’ more recent attempts to destroy the Jews have put security ahead of idealism as Israel’s highest priority. With the hard-won peace treaty now thrown into doubt, this tension seems difficult to reconcile.
Although the military has offered assurances that the country will respect the treaty, the army’s voice in a democratic Egypt may not be the only one that counts. Unfortunately, the sounds coming from erstwhile civilian leaders are not reassuring.
For prominent Muslim Brotherhood figures to condemn the treaty is worrying, but to be expected.
More alarming is that leading liberal lights are echoing their refrain. Ayman Nour, head of the secular Ghad Party, recently declared the peace treaty “over”; at the least, he said, it must be renegotiated.
Mohamed ElBaradei, far from proclaiming the treaty “rock solid,” as has been reported, in fact pronounced its vitality dependent on progress with the Palestinians. Such statements must give pause to even the most optimistic Israelis...