Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is facing one of the most difficult diplomatic challenges of his brief tenure.
Recalling his ambassador from Israel for “consultations” hasn’t eased the pressure for stronger action from his own party and others. His decision to send Prime Minister Hisham Qandil to Gaza on Friday is thus in part an effort to show his own people that his government supports Hamas and the Palestinian people in Gaza.
At the same time, he is engaged in an Arab and international effort to broker a cease-fire, fearing that continued fighting would spark far larger demonstrations in Egypt than those that occurred on Thursday. According to an Egyptian journalist, Morsi has asked King Abdullah of Jordan to explain Cairo’s concerns to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as its willingness to reach binding agreements with Hamas once the fighting stops. Egypt has also asked Saudi Arabia to lobby Washington to press Israel not to expand the operation.
Qandil is likely to come to Gaza with a cease-fire proposal, accompanied by a promise that afterward, Egypt will agree to open its border crossing with Gaza to goods (the crossing currently only serves people) and discuss an economic rehabilitation plan, probably funded by Qatar. In exchange, it will ask Hamas to crack down on radical groups in Gaza that have been involved in attacks in Sinai, agree to a long-term truce with Israel and accelerate its reconciliation with the Palestinian Authority.
The outlines of Egypt’s proposal have already been relayed to Hamas’ leaders, and Morsi hopes Qandil’s visit will end with Hamas at least agreeing in principle. Washington would then be asked to secure Israel’s consent.
Egyptian officials told the Egyptian media that Cairo has various ways to help Hamas and punish Israel, but it prefers to start with moderate measures. One official, pointing out that Cairo hasn’t yet expelled Israel’s ambassador, hinted that this would be the next step. But severing relations entirely, he said, is merely a “theoretical” possibility for now since “that might include a broad hint of readiness for war.”
The website of Morsi’s Freedom and Justice Party, in contrast, gave prominence to a statement by Rafiq Habib, a Christian adviser to Morsi who is considered one of the party’s most moderate figures.
“The Zionist entity isn’t a state, just as there is no Israeli society,” he said. “This is a fundamentally aggressive entity that has a military role that it executes in exchange for the Western support it gets. It’s an aggressive mafia that carries out its missions for pay. The Arab Spring is the greatest challenge facing the Zionist occupation, because it destroys the Arab-Western alliances that protected the occupation and let it commit murderous acts.”
This attitude by both the FJP and its parent movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, forces Morsi to maneuver cautiously. He must avoid appearing to betray their principles without ruining the chance of getting Israel to agree to a truce − something that would reestablish Egypt’s importance as a regional player and gain him political capital.
From Israel’s perspective, ignoring Egypt’s truce proposal in order to do more damage to Hamas now could ruin the chances of Cairo being an effective mediator in the future. Acceding could thus could serve both sides’ interests.
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