By Stan Goodenough
Dec 27, 2006
Egypt, a country that continues to regard Israel as an enemy 28 years after signing a peace treaty with the Jewish state, is pleased with the Olmert government’s decision not to retaliate against Arabs firing missiles at Israeli targets.
So said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit while visiting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem Wednesday.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Olmert told Gheit Israel could not continue to sit by quietly while its citizens were being targeted.
As many as 60 Kassam rockets have been fired at Israeli targets since Israel and the “Palestinians” purportedly agreed to a ceasefire. While the Arab side has blatantly violated its pledge, Israel has sat still, refusing to retaliate for the missile attacks.
However the Israeli leader did not say just how much longer he would wait before acting to defend his people.
Gheit was making his first visit to Israel in more than two years, and is believed to have come to try and “encourage” Israel to maintain its passive posture.
He may also have brought some news about the IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, kidnapped by Palestinian Arabs six months ago and not heard from since.
Cairo has traditionally sought to play a mediator role in the ‘Palestinian”-Israeli conflict.
Its bias (not unexpectedly) has been consistently pro-Palestinian.
Despite this, despite the seething hostility and in-your-face antisemitism directed against Israel in the daily Egyptian print and electronic media; despite the fact that President Hosni Mubarak and his government actively discourage the forming of any friendly ties between the two states, while his ministers talk openly about future war with Israel – despite all this, successive Israeli governments have insisted on showing respect for, and giving consideration to, Egypt’s “brokerage.”