Friday's grave events in Cairo can be defined as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Israel's embassy in Egypt, a symbol of the important peace with our neighbor, was breached by a mob that treats the 31-year relationship as a mishap. Peace suffered a serious blow, as did Israel. To lose two ambassadors in one week is a bit more than any country can take. It is also difficult for a country to witness, again and again, the unbearable defacement of its flag. There is a clear resemblance between the Turkish and Egyptian rage. In Ankara the process is driven by a prime minister trying to appease the Arab masses, whereas in Egypt, the masses are, at best, seeking a scapegoat for their frustration, and at worst, seeking an object for their hatred. In Turkey, as in Cairo, the people are angry with us. In the first case, Israel is responsible for the murder of nine "peace activists" and in Egypt for the deaths of five soldiers. In both cases, Israel expressed regret but did not apologize, because the incidents did not occur by coincidence. Out of Turkey, Egypt and Israel, which is the country that actually needs to be angry- It's unpleasant to see a closed embassy, but even less pleasant to see an embassy under attack. Israel's embassy in Mauritania, which I oversaw for four years, experienced both of these traumas. Until its closing in 2009, the Mauritanian authorities did everything they could to protect the embassy from demonstrators, but not against al-Qaida. Even in far-flung Mauritania international norms were respected. But those were different times. The Arab Spring holds some promise, but in the meantime, the dangers are starting to be realized. The Tahrir revolution brought about a new reality in Egypt: Beyond the border, a military regime came to power that seeks more than anything to please the masses. This can be viewed as a type of "democracy." It's just unfortunate that it comes at Israel's expense. One does not have to be a genius to know that our peace with Egypt is in danger. For many years, Israel did not seek only peace with Arabs - it also wanted a normalization of ties. The Arab world, or to be more exact, a small segment of its leadership, was willing to compromise on a peace agreement with little content. The Palestinian problem was a perfect excuse to limit ties. The masses were the ones who always opposed normalization. Now, those very same masses have become rulers. We can congratulate them for their determination in not settling just for the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, yet it's hard to admire them as they spurn one of the great achievements of modern Egypt. It's good that we also heard some sane voices from Cairo that support its relationship with Israel. These are not simple times for Israel, or for the rest of the world. That's how it goes when there's no one in charge. Once upon a time, there was a bully around to keep everyone in his place. Now, Washington fears that its representatives in Cairo may share the same fate as those in Yemen or Syria. The Arab Spring has quickly turned into a counter-revolution. In Egypt, people are furious at the army, while in Tunisia, more than 70 percent of the population is dissatisfied with the new situation. In Libya, even before they have apprehended Moammar Gadhafi, there are those who claim they prefer the old regime over the new colonialists from France and England. None of this heralds good news. There is nothing left for us to do but regret that the current rulers in Egypt did not protect our house in Cairo, and that the masses there are behaving as if there were never peace with Israel. America is simply being naive. In the meantime, we should await the Arab Spring in terms of relations with Israel even though it does not appear to be on the horizon. In January, they promised us a long spring season. Instead, we're already facing a severe winter storm in September, even before preparations have been made at the United Nations General Assembly auditorium.
