Israel Has To Issue Two Formal Apologies Now

Funeral of Egyptian Policemen

Diplomatic relations deteriorate between Israel and Egypt after the reported killing of five Egyptian policemen by the Israel Defense Forces as the Egyptian foreign ministry announces that the ambassador of Egypt to Tel Aviv will be withdrawn. IDF was said to have killed the Egyptian policemen by mistake as they were chasing down Palestinian militants, who launched on Thursday an attack near Eilat, as a result of which eight Israelis were killed.

Eilat lies at the border with Egypt, and the attack on Israeli bus that was passing by is said by Israeli authorities to have been launched by Gazan militants.

Egyptian foreign ministry has issued a statement in which it is said that the ambassador is to be recalled until Israel offered a formal apology and launched an investigation into the causes of this tragic accident.

Israel claims the terrorists traveled through Egyptian Sinai to carry their attack and blames the Egyptian military council for having imposed lax security measures at the border, while Egyptian authorities say that the terrorist passed into Israel because Israel had lax security measures.

Egyptian cabinet issued a statement, related to the deaths of the policemen, by which it maintained that Israel was legally and politically responsible for them. The military council also said that the Egyptian army would respond to Israeli aggressions in the future, thus fueling the concerns that tension and even confrontation may occur in the future between the two nations, which had amiable relations during the time of Hosni Mubarak.

Under the peace agreement, signed in 1979, Israel and Egypt have created a demilitarized zone at their border, but the escalation of tension between the two states may change this long-standing status quo.

Hundreds of protesters have gathered in front of the Israeli embassy in Cairo, demanding the expulsion of Israeli envoy.

Israeli air strikes in Gaza continued after the attack on Thursday, leaving at least 12 people dead, most of them militants.

The new development between Egypt and Israel places the Jewish state in the uncomfortable position of having two formal apologies to issue, and comes days after the cabinet in Tel Aviv already decided that they would not offer any apology to Turkey for the killing of nine Turks in May last year, on board of Mavi Marmara, the humanitarian aid vessel that was going to Gaza.

Israel Defense Forces

The refuse to apologize was immediately followed by the response of the Turkish authorities, who said that there would be no resumption of relations until the apology has been issued.

Israel was one of the states that was reluctant to the ouster of the former president of Egypt Hosni Mubarak, considering that the change of regime would bring with it a worsening of the relations in the area, and it would seem they were right to think so.

The concern of Israel goes even deeper, since after the elections in October, the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist party, is expected to win many seats in the Parliament in Cairo and to be able to impose an Islamist agenda, which would prejudice Israel, especially since the support of Turkey is also lost.

Soon after the ouster of Mubarak, Iran made a show of force by passing two of its warships through the Suez channel on their way to Lakatia, the port in Syria that was meant to become a permanent Iranian base at the Mediterranean Sea.

The Egyptian authorities have allowed the Iranian vessels to pass, thus showing that something is changed in the power balance in the region.

It gets worse, since thousands protested in Tahrir Square, Cairo, demanding the institution of sharia and the Muslim state, calling for the death of those who were advocating democratic values.