Egypt decided over the weekend to officially accept an Israeli apology for the deaths of their soldiers on Thursday, and move on. But on the streets of Egypt, the story looks rather different. After a short political thriller in Cairo about whether to recall their ambassador from Tel Aviv or not, Yasser Reda, the Egyptian envoy, has survived and will stay on in Israel. But what will happen next time remains to be seen. The Egyptian Cabinet held an emergency meeting on Friday. First, they decided to summon the Israeli ambassador in Cairo for a demarche. Im sorry to say it, but in the diplomatic world, this doesn't mean much. Following this slap on the wrist, global media reported that Egypt would recall its own ambassador. This has only occurred once before, when Mubarak, in 2000, removed his envoy from Tel Aviv during the Second Intifada. At the time, no one really thought peace was in any danger. Following Friday's meeting, Defense Minister Ehud Barak expressed regret over the deaths of the Egyptian soldiers and the Egyptian Supreme Military Council said Reda would stay after all. The unofficial Egypt, however, wants the exact opposite. The people of Egypt want the ambassador recalled. The Israeli Embassy in Cairo became a hotbed of protest over the weekend as a surge of demonstrators called for the peace treaty to be revoked. It was not so nice to be an Israeli flag in Cairo on Saturday. The Egyptian media is also stirring things up as much as possible. It reported only on the deaths of the Egyptian soldiers along with its report of the IDF attacks in Gaza. Did it mention the terror attacks in southern Israel that preceded those strikes? Or the Grad rockets raining on Beersheba? The Egyptian public didn't even see a news flash on these incidents. Official Egypt did not recall its ambassador. It did, however, upgrade its relations with Iran, Hamas and even the Muslim Brotherhood lately; all moves that pose real threats to regional stability. The U.S., by the way, has a respectable part in this as well. The U.S. rushed to get rid of Mubarak but, as our luck would have it, they have not yet given up on our peace with Egypt. Post-Mubarak official Egypt has to listen to the heartbeat on its streets and this why we fear the next crisis. Are we talking about an Arab Spring or, instead, a winter chill passing over our military and diplomatic relations with Egypt?
