Egypt's Parliament Wants Israel's Ambassador Out
By HAMZA HENDAWI Associated Press
CAIRO March 12, 2012 (AP)
Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament unanimously voted on Monday in
support of expelling Israel's ambassador in Cairo and halting gas
exports to the Jewish state.
The motion is largely symbolic, because only the ruling military council
can make such decisions, and it is not likely to impact Egypt's
relations with Israel. But it signals the seismic change in Egypt after
the ouster of longtime leader and Israel ally Hosni Mubarak a year ago
in a popular uprising that ended his 29 years in power.
The vote was taken by a show of hands on a report by the chamber's Arab
affairs committee that declared Egypt will "never" be a friend, partner
or ally of Israel. The report described Israel as the nation's "number
one enemy" and endorsed what it called Palestinian resistance "in all
its kinds and forms" against Israel's "aggressive policies."
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the vote by the People's Assembly, the Egyptian parliament's lower house.
Egypt became the first Arab nation to sign a peace treaty with Israel in
1979. The treaty came six years after the two Middle East neighbors
fought the last of their four wars. However, the accord produced a
"cold" peace, and most Egyptians still view Israel as their nation's
enemy.
There have been bouts of tension in relations between the two neighbors,
mostly over Israel's perceived reluctance to proceed in good faith with
peace talks with the Palestinians, but leaders of the two nations have
consistently kept open channels of communication.
The parliamentary report also called for the recall of Egypt's
ambassador in Israel and a revision of Egypt's nuclear power policy in
view of the widespread suspicion that Israel has a nuclear arsenal of
its own.
"Revolutionary Egypt will never be a friend, partner or ally of the
Zionist entity (Israel), which we consider to be the number one enemy of
Egypt and the Arab nation," said the report. "It will deal with that
entity as an enemy, and the Egyptian government is hereby called upon to
review all its relations and accords with that enemy."
Monday's vote by parliament could serve as an indication of what may lie ahead.
The Islamists who dominate the 508-seat chamber, as well as the largely
powerless upper house, would like to see the president's wide executive
powers curtailed in the country's next constitution, while boosting
those of the legislature.
If they have their way, statements like Monday's could impact on relations with Israel.
The parliament's vote could also give the generals who succeeded Mubarak
an added incentive to keep the office of the president as the nation's
most powerful institution and ensure that Egypt's next leader is
beholden to the military.
The ruling military council is led by Mubarak's defense minister for 20
years, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi. Many of its members are veterans
of Egypt's last war with Israel in 1973, but they also have worked to
maintain the peace since 1979.
The Muslim Brotherhood, which controls just under half of the seats in
the powerful People's Assembly, wants a president with an Islamist
background.
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