EGYPT: Rage over borders and aid

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The Israeli accusations that Egypt was not doing enough to prevent weapon smuggling across its borders has recently caused a storm of fury in Cairo. Earlier this week, the Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni accused Egypt of doing a ‘terrible’ job in securing the borders with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

In response, the Egyptian foreign minister bashed Livni accusing her of not understanding the issue and contending that she should have remained silent. This is not the first time Israel brings such accusations against Egypt; however, this time the Israeli criticism came in a more strained context. Last week, the US Congress decided to suspend $100 million of the US aid to Egypt for the latter’s poor human rights record and ‘the failure’ to control its borders with the Gaza Strip. The Egyptian foreign ministry held the Jewish lobby responsible for this move, which was dismissed as an attempt at ‘harming American-Egyptian ties. ‘The latest months have seen the Israeli lobby’s efforts to harm Egypt’s interests with the Congress,’ The Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told reporters. ‘The Israeli lobby inside the (U.S.) Congress was behind some positions adopted by Congress and the Israeli media campaign in the last few months falls within this trend.’ The Egyptian government reacted to the Congress decision by announcing its ‘categorical’ rejection of linking the aid to ‘any dictation’ or ‘conditions.’

Last month, Egypt’s president tried to dispel similar israeli accusations by affirming that Egypt was trying to keep a tight grip over its porous borders. ‘As to weapon [smuggling], the matter is not as simple as you may think, we exert tremendous efforts. We don’t allow any ammunition to go to Israel or to come to us from Israel,’ said Mubarak at a joint press conference with the Israeli Prime minister Ehud Olmert at Sharm El-Sheikh resort in Novemeber, ‘We have caught huge amounts of ammunition, in tons, because we are afraid that it would circulate in Sinai. So don’t think we are lenient on that because we are not.’

— Noha El-Hennawy in Cairo