The Israeli government is struggling to maintain political status quo this month after multiple diplomatic rifts with it’s regional allies, Egypt and Turkey, over the perpetual issue of Palestinian statehood.
On Friday, September 9, all but one Israeli diplomat fled Egypt as hundreds of protestors, angry over the deaths of 5 Egyptians by an Israeli helicopter hunting Gazan militants, and Israel’s inability to act on the issue of Palestinian statehood, stormed the Israeli Embassy in Cairo.
A nearby demonstration against the Egyptian interim government, in Tahrir Square, escalated Friday as a large group of protestors left the rally and marched towards the Israeli embassy, where protests have been occurring for the past month. There, the energized mob proceeded to tear down a security wall surrounding the embassy, as Egyptian security forces stood idle on orders not to confront the marauders.
A small group eventually made their way into the embassy, beating one employee, and trapping six others in a secure room, while vandalizing the area and throwing documents from the windows.
President Obama, at the urging of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, managed to facilitate the rescue of the trapped Israelis through a flurry of phone calls to Egyptian authorities.
Protestors burnt police vehicles and lit a neighboring police station on fire, as well as defacing the Egyptian Interior Ministry and menacing the Saudi Embassy, before finally being dispersed by security forces. The Egyptian Health Ministry has counted well over 500 injuries, and 3 deaths have been reported.
The Egyptian government has been criticized for breaking international treaties by not protecting Israel’s embassy. The incident has called in to question the ability of Egypt’s interim government to defend additional foreign embassies in a time of domestic unrest.
In response to the criticism, Egyptian officials has re-administered state emergency laws, which sanction the perpetual detention of protestors without the right of a trial, and have vowed to take legal action against the leaders of the insurrection.
The invasion of Israel’s embassy comes just over a week before the start of the U.N. General Assembly, scheduled September 19.
A vote is expected to be put forth at the assembly on the condition of Palestinian statehood, which has been in a state of legal limbo since the Six-Day War in 1967.
Egypt has been to war with Israel 5 times since 1948, all of which revolved around the issue of Palestinian and Israeli statehood.
President Obama has vowed to use his veto power to stop the statehood bill, despite the will of the majority.
In addition to the hostility received from the Egyptian people, Israel is also struggling against political aggression from Turkey’s government.
Israel has continued to refuse to apologize for a raid aboard an aid flotilla, destined for the blockaded Palestinian territory of Gaza, which led to the deaths of 19 people, including 9 Turks, and 1 Turkish-American in May of 2010.
A U.N. report has established that the breach of the blockade by the humanitarian aid ships, as well as the ensuing raid by the Israeli Defense Force to be completely legal, but Turkey’s demands, and Israel’s refusal to meet those demands remain.
Turkey expelled Israel’s ambassador to their country on September 9, the same day of the embassy invasion, and suspended diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv following the refusal to apologize.
Turkey has vowed to support anyone seeking legal action against the state of Israel, threatening to take the blockage issue to international court, and has threatened to send warship escorts for any additional flotilla trying to reach the coast of Gaza.
Such maneuvers will undoubtedly damage economic relations between the two counties and could ultimately lead to war if the situation is not handled sensitively.
According to an article on www.ynetnews.com, economic ties with Turkey amount to almost $4 billion dollars, or 3%, of Israel’s economy.
With the Arab Spring in full swing around Israel, the hostile reactions of two of the regions most influential and stabilizing countries, Turkey and Egypt, threaten to derail the relative peace Israel has maintained.
The populist resentment from the Egyptian people towards the Israel government, and the political posturing of Turkey against Israeli policies, added to the upcoming bid for Palestinian statehood, and amplified by progression of the Arab Spring, could force the Israeli government, and ultimately, it’s closest ally, the United States, to remodel their future stratagem for dealing with the Middle East.
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A nearby demonstration against the Egyptian interim government, in Tahrir Square, escalated Friday as a large group of protestors left the rally and marched towards the Israeli embassy, where protests have been occurring for the past month. There, the energized mob proceeded to tear down a security wall surrounding the embassy, as Egyptian security forces stood idle on orders not to confront the marauders.
A small group eventually made their way into the embassy, beating one employee, and trapping six others in a secure room, while vandalizing the area and throwing documents from the windows.
President Obama, at the urging of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, managed to facilitate the rescue of the trapped Israelis through a flurry of phone calls to Egyptian authorities.
Protestors burnt police vehicles and lit a neighboring police station on fire, as well as defacing the Egyptian Interior Ministry and menacing the Saudi Embassy, before finally being dispersed by security forces. The Egyptian Health Ministry has counted well over 500 injuries, and 3 deaths have been reported.
The Egyptian government has been criticized for breaking international treaties by not protecting Israel’s embassy. The incident has called in to question the ability of Egypt’s interim government to defend additional foreign embassies in a time of domestic unrest.
In response to the criticism, Egyptian officials has re-administered state emergency laws, which sanction the perpetual detention of protestors without the right of a trial, and have vowed to take legal action against the leaders of the insurrection.
The invasion of Israel’s embassy comes just over a week before the start of the U.N. General Assembly, scheduled September 19.
A vote is expected to be put forth at the assembly on the condition of Palestinian statehood, which has been in a state of legal limbo since the Six-Day War in 1967.
Egypt has been to war with Israel 5 times since 1948, all of which revolved around the issue of Palestinian and Israeli statehood.
President Obama has vowed to use his veto power to stop the statehood bill, despite the will of the majority.
In addition to the hostility received from the Egyptian people, Israel is also struggling against political aggression from Turkey’s government.
Israel has continued to refuse to apologize for a raid aboard an aid flotilla, destined for the blockaded Palestinian territory of Gaza, which led to the deaths of 19 people, including 9 Turks, and 1 Turkish-American in May of 2010.
A U.N. report has established that the breach of the blockade by the humanitarian aid ships, as well as the ensuing raid by the Israeli Defense Force to be completely legal, but Turkey’s demands, and Israel’s refusal to meet those demands remain.
Turkey expelled Israel’s ambassador to their country on September 9, the same day of the embassy invasion, and suspended diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv following the refusal to apologize.
Turkey has vowed to support anyone seeking legal action against the state of Israel, threatening to take the blockage issue to international court, and has threatened to send warship escorts for any additional flotilla trying to reach the coast of Gaza.
Such maneuvers will undoubtedly damage economic relations between the two counties and could ultimately lead to war if the situation is not handled sensitively.
According to an article on www.ynetnews.com, economic ties with Turkey amount to almost $4 billion dollars, or 3%, of Israel’s economy.
With the Arab Spring in full swing around Israel, the hostile reactions of two of the regions most influential and stabilizing countries, Turkey and Egypt, threaten to derail the relative peace Israel has maintained.
The populist resentment from the Egyptian people towards the Israel government, and the political posturing of Turkey against Israeli policies, added to the upcoming bid for Palestinian statehood, and amplified by progression of the Arab Spring, could force the Israeli government, and ultimately, it’s closest ally, the United States, to remodel their future stratagem for dealing with the Middle East.
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