Egypt recalls ambassador to Israel

Cairo's interim cabinet decides to withdraw its envoy to Israel over troops' death near border Thursday; Jerusalem's ambassador to Egypt summoned by authorities

Roee Nahmias
Ynet News
Latest Update: 08.20.11, 10:47 / Israel News

Israel-Egypt ties rattled further: Egypt has decided to recall its ambassador, Yasser Reda, from Israel in protest of the deaths of five Egyptian security forces in a border incident which took place Thursday, Cairo's state TV reported on Saturday.

The Egyptian troops were killed as Israeli soldiers pursued suspected terrorists from the Gaza Strip, who crossed the border from the Sinai Peninsula into southern Israel and carried out multiple terror attacks, which left eight Israelis dead and dozens injured.

There nature of the incident is still under investigation, but the Egyptian interim cabinet has already ruled that "Israel is politically and legally responsible for this incident"; further stating that is was in breach of the 1979 peace treaty between the two countries.

"The Cabinet committee has decided to withdraw the Egyptian ambassador in Israel until the result of investigations by the Israeli authorities is provided, and an apology from the Israeli leadership over the hasty and regrettable statements about Egypt is given.

"Egypt deplores the irresponsible and hasty statements made by some leaders in Israel, which lack the wisdom and prudence and passes judgment before arriving at the truth, particularly keeping in mind the sensitivity of Egyptian-Israeli relations," the cabinet's statement said.

Egypt has also summoned the Israeli ambassador in Cairo to protest the shooting. A cabinet statement carried by Egypt's state TV said: "The Cabinet assigns the Egyptian foreign minister to summon the Israeli ambassador in Cairo. The cabinet demands a joint official probe to ascertain the circumstances of the incident… and take the necessary legal action to protect the rights of Egyptian victims and injured."

The blame game

The troops' death has posed a major test for ties between Israel and Egypt following the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak and strengthened forces hostile to Israel.

Jerusalem expressed concern about security in the Sinai peninsula and said that the terrorists responsible for Thursday's attacks had infiltrated Israel from Gaza via Egypt's Sinai desert, despite stepped-up efforts by Egyptian security to root out Islamist radicals.

Cairo has adamantly rejected the criticism, which essentially suggested it has lost control of Sinai, and its strong-language statement, added that Israel was to blame, since the "lax security" from its side had allowed the ambush to take place.

An earlier Egyptian statement accused Israel of trying to "shirk responsibility for the recklessness of Israeli security forces in protecting the borders."

This was the first time in nearly 11 years that Egypt decided to recall its ambassador from Israel. The last time was in November 2000 when the Egyptians protested what they called excessive use of violence during the al-Aqsa Intifada.

"Israel sees its treaty with Egypt as a strategic and fundamental element of existence in the Middle East and had no intention of harming any of its security personnel in the border incident, which is still under investigation," a senior defense official said on Saturday.

Ynet learned that the Foreign Ministry has called a consultation following Egypt's decision to recall its ambassador. The ministry said that the decision was "regrettable" and that Israel seeks to maintain its close ties with Egypt.

A ministry source said that Israel has no intention of recalling its ambassador to Cairo as this time, "as that would indicate downgrading the (diplomatic) relations. We have no desire to see that happen – on the contrary."

The source added that "the decision weather to recall the Israeli ambassador is, ultimately, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the security cabinet's to make. At this point, a consultation on the matter has been called with the Prime Minister's Office, the Defense Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and the National Security Council."

The source stressed that Israel strives to resolve the issue before Ambassador Reda leaves.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 63,00.html

Israel-Gaza attacks stoke tension with Cairo

20 Aug 2011 04:25

Reuters

* Gaza violence follows killing of 8 Israelis near Egypt

* Egyptians protest to Israel over deaths of its men

* Hamas threatens retaliation for Israeli strikes that kill 15 (Adds 3 dead in new air raid, Hamas calls off de-facto truce)

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Israeli aircraft struck militant outposts in Gaza and Palestinians fired rockets back on Friday following deadly gun attacks along the desert border with Egypt that have raised tensions between Israel and the new rulers in Cairo.

Egypt formally protested and demanded Israel investigate the deaths of three of its security men, who, it said, were killed when Israeli forces hunted for the gunmen behind Thursday's attacks. In all, more than 20 people have been killed.

In anger at Israel's punishing raids in which at least 15 have been killed since Thursday, Hamas gunmen in Gaza said they were calling off a de-facto truce in force with Israel since 2009, paving the way for a further violent escalation.

Israel had swiftly pinned the blame for Thursday's attack on a Palestinian group independent of Islamist Hamas and killed the faction's leadership in an air strike on Thursday, while launching more than a dozen more raids on Friday.

Among those killed in Israel's strikes were 11 militants and four civilians, including a physician and children aged 2,5 and 13, said Hamas medical sources. Gaza militants responded by firing at least 24 rockets at Israel, spreading panic, and injuring two in the city of Ashdod.

"We have a policy of exacting a very heavy price of anyone who attacks us and this policy is being implemented," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday while visiting wounded compatriots in hospital.

Hamas, whose militants have not claimed responsibility for any of the rocket fire, at first countered with warnings they would "not allow the enemy to escalate its aggression without getting punished."

A Hamas radio station announced the group's armed wing had decided "there is no longer any truce with the enemy," alluding to a 2009 deal that ended a three week Israeli offensive targeting militants firing rockets at the Jewish state.

In an apparent attempt to ease tensions later, a Hamas spokesman later told Reuters the radio statement "is not the official position". Gaza's Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said separately he was seeking Egyptian and United Nations intervention "to stop the aggression on Gaza."

The radio tirade followed Israel's latest air strike launched just before midnight, targeting a militant riding a motorcycle in Gaza City. The missile also slammed into a passing car, killing three civilians including a medical doctor and a child, Hamas medical officials said.

Israeli forces were swift to blame the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) armed faction for Thursday's attack near the Red Sea resort of Eilat which killed when eight Israelis.

The group denied involvement in Thursday's ambushes, but did claim responsibility for some of Friday's rocket fire.

EGYPT ANGER

Israeli leaders also accused Egypt's new military leaders of losing their grip on the Sinai peninsula. Cairo rejected the charge, but Israel fears its once sleepy southern flank is rapidly becoming a major security threat.

"We would hope that yesterday's terrorist attack on the border would serve as an impetus for the Egyptian side to more effectively exercise their sovereignty in Sinai," said a senior Israeli official, who declined to be named.

Cairo rejected the charge and voiced anger at the death of an army officer and two security officials on their side of the border on Thursday, although it was not clear how they died. Witnesses said those who attacked the Israelis had disguised themselves as Egyptian security forces.

"Egypt has filed an official protest to Israel over the incidents at the border yesterday and demands an urgent investigation over the reasons and circumstances surrounding the death of three of Egypt's forces," an army official in Cairo said.

On Friday evening, about 100 protesters gathered at the Israeli embassy in Cairo, tearing down the metal barriers at the entrance to the building.

"I call on all Egyptians to protest until the Israeli ambassador is kicked out of the country," said one of the demonstrators, Essam Hafiz.

The Israeli military said there was an exchange of fire between its troops and the militants along the border on Thursday night. "The IDF (army) will investigate the matter thoroughly and update the Egyptians," it said in a statement.

In New York, the U.N. Security Council met to consider a U.S.-drafted statement condemning the attack on the Israelis, but Lebanon, the sole Arab member, prevented agreement after insisting that the 15-nation body also condemn the Israeli strikes in Gaza, U.N. diplomats said.

U.S. envoy Rosemary DiCarlo described the failure of the council to speak on the issue "regrettable."

The sparsely populated Sinai forms a huge desert buffer zone between Egypt and Israel, who sealed an historic peace treaty in 1979 after fighting two wars in less than a decade.

Israel enjoyed good relations with U.S.-backed former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, but following his downfall in February, Israeli officials have regularly voiced concern about a security vacuum along their joint border.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the "brutal and cowardly attacks" on the Israelis near Eilat. She said the violence "only underscores our strong concerns about the security situation in the Sinai Peninsula". (Additional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch and Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem and Marwa Awad in Cairo; Editing by Rosalind Russell)

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/isra ... ith-cairo/

First, I hear Egypt is recalling their envoy to Israel. Then I hear they aren't. Now I hear that they have recalled him. So...which is it? Is he recalled or is he not?