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On August 23, the Palestinian-owned Al-Quds al-Arabi daily carried the following lead editorial: “Anger is still mounting among the Egyptian citizens, due to the martyrdom of five soldiers with a rocket launched by an Israeli aircraft which violated Egyptian sovereignty in Sinai while pursuing a group which it said carried out the operation against the buses near the Eilat port, thus claiming the lives of eight Israelis including soldiers. The Egyptian government is trying to contain the crisis and consequently appease the situation on the Egyptian street, by giving the impression that its Israeli counterpart presented an apology for the killing via its Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and that it accepted the launching of an investigation with the participation of Egyptian experts to figure out what happened. This constitutes an unprecedented step by the Israelis who usually reject the participation of any foreigner in similar investigations rela ted to Israeli military or civil affairs. 

“But the Egyptian people are rejecting this appeasement and thousands among them are still demonstrating in front of the Israeli embassy in Cairo and demanding its closing, while the young Egyptian man who climbed up the building of the embassy, took down the Israeli flag and placed the Egyptian one instead has become a popular hero. The Egyptian people are the most hostile toward Israel and any normalization attempt with it, while the arrival of delegations from all over the country in front of the embassy to demonstrate alongside artists, writers, poets and ordinary citizens is a clear proof for that… The Egyptian popular anger is right on the mark, considering that the Israeli forces committed a double crime in Sinai, as they firstly violated the sovereignty of Egyptian soil, then killed Egyptian soldiers in cold blood in clear violation of the Camp David accords.

“For its part, the United States is extremely concerned about these tensions between its main allies in the region, because the return of the climate of war will mean the collapse of the most important US foreign policy pillar in the Middle East region. Hence, the administration quickly dispatched Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman to Cairo and Tel Aviv to appease the situation between the two countries. Feltman is among the main engineers of American foreign policy in the Arab region, and his efforts are always focused on the protection of Israel and the fighting of its enemies in the region, namely the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamic resistance factions such as Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, and the support of the sides falling under the headline of “moderation,” particularly the Lebanese parties.

“It is likely that Feltman’s efforts to contain the crisis will be successful and that he will manage to convince the Egyptian authorities to accept the Israeli “sorrow” and not the “apology,” because these authorities do not want any escalation with the Israelis during the transitional phase currently witnessed in the country. Mr. Muhammad Kamel Amr, the Egyptian foreign minister, said he will not withdraw the Egyptian ambassador from Tel Aviv because his government wants him to stay there for the time being. The non-withdrawal of the Egyptian ambassador by a government which emerged from the womb of Tahrir Square, the stronghold of the Egyptian revolution, in protest against the martyrdom of Egyptian soldiers… is condemned and difficult to understand, considering that the government of deposed President Hosni Mubarak withdrew its ambassador twice, in protest against the attack on South Lebanon and during the invasion of the Gaza Strip.

“The Egyptian government must not succumb to the American blackmail and insist on a clear Israeli apology, just as it was and is still being done by the Turkish government. This is the government of the revolution and it must rise to the level of the positions and aspirations of the people who detonated this revolution and toppled a regime that was collaborating with Israel.” – Al-Quds al-Arabi, United Kingdom