Beyond Cairo, Israel Sensing a Wider Siege

[bemildred]

JERUSALEM — With its Cairo embassy breached, its ambassador to Turkey expelled and the Palestinians seeking statehood recognition at the United Nations this month, Israel has become increasingly isolated and is grappling with a radically transformed Middle East where it believes its options are limited and poor.

On Saturday, a pair of Israeli military jets swept into Cairo at dawn to evacuate Israel’s embassy after six members had been trapped in the embassy overnight by thousands of protesters who invaded and ransacked the building.

The planes swiftly returned to Israel, carrying the ambassador and about 85 other diplomats and family members, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the ambassador would return “soon,” once he had ensured “that the security arrangements necessary for him and for our staff will be steadfast.”

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Israel, Turkey and Egypt are all critical American allies, and though the diplomatic breaches were not entirely unexpected, they have prompted a flurry of diplomatic activity in Washington. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called her counterpart in Egypt on Saturday, as well as the Israelis.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/world/middleeast/11israel.html?_r=1&ref=middleeast

[bemildred]

1. Egypt vows to try those who targeted Israel mission

CAIRO, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Egypt's army rulers vowed on Saturday to try those behind the violence that drove Israel to evacuate its ambassador from Cairo, struggling to contain public fury against the Jewish state while fending off U.S. criticism.

Washington, which has poured billions of dollars of military aid into Egypt since it made peace with Israel in 1979, urged Cairo to protect the mission after protesters hurled embassy documents and the Israeli flag from the windows of the building.

Three people were killed and 1,049 wounded in the clashes that began on Friday and raged on into the early hours of Saturday around the Cairo tower block housing the embassy, the Health Ministry said. Police and soldiers had fired shots in the air and teargas to disperse the crowd, who hurled stones at them.

Egypt's army, under pressure to give power to civilians after taking over from toppled ex-president Hosni Mubarak, must balance public calls for a more assertive policy towards Israel with maintaining ties that bring it cash and top-notch U.S. hardware.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Egypt+vows+those+targeted+Israel+mission/5382936/story.html

[cliss]

2. Israel & Turkey

seem to be moving toward more hostilities.

I wonder what the US would do if Israel attacks a NATO country.

[Tesha]

3. The US will find a reason to do nothing. (NT)

[bemildred]

6. A good question, I have no idea.

I would suspect it has not been given much serious consideration in the past.

[Xithras]

16. I'd be more concerned with the rest of NATO.

Unlike the UN security council, the United States doesn't have veto powers on NATO actions, and Israel's popularity in Europe is already shaky. The U.S. would probably sit out any fight between Turkey and Israel, but I wouldn't be so sure about the rest of the NATO powers.

Ultimately, I think it would come down to the defensibility of the causal action. In plain english...it would depend on who fired the first shot, and how defensible that action was.

If Israel carried out a "preemptive strike" on Turkey, I'd bet goood money that they would immediately find themselves under attack from multiple NATO countries as the mutual defense pact at the heart of NATO was called into action. If Turkey struck Israel first, or if Israel fired first in response to a noncombat hostile act (Turkish warship in Israeli waters, as an example), then I'd expect most of the NATO members to join the U.S. in sitting the fighting out.

[aranthus]

17. Since the blockade is legal

Turkey would be injecting itself into a war against Israel and would be the attacker. So neither the US nor any other NATO country would be under any treaty obligation to aid Turkey. That might change if Israel invaded Turkish territory, but that isn't going to happen.

[oberliner]

4. Beware of posting anything by Ethan Bronner

His son apparently is serving or did serve in the IDF.

[azurnoir]

5. well that would be quite in line with article wouldn't it?

however when it comes to opinion pieces Bronners's personal attachments to Israel should taken into account as should those of anyone who writes opinion pieces

[oberliner]

11. I think you are being unfair

He is a journalist. There are certain journalistic ethics he must adhere to.

[azurnoir]

12. not really as I pointed out there is a difference between news and opinion Bronner writes both

sometimes in the same article and his personal attachments will color those stories as it would anyone who is writing on a subject that is close to them in a personal way

[oberliner]

13. No there isn't

When a journalist writes an op ed piece they are still expected to demonstrate ethical behavior.

[azurnoir]

14. if one is reporting hard news yes it would be unethical to have your own opinion color the reporting

but an op-ed is an opinion piece and it is not unethical Bonners work seems a combination of the two

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. I may be missing something, but how

are jets capable of evacuating an embassy? Were they cover for ground forces?

[bemildred]

8. They used the airport.

Egypt provided security for the evacuation.

[Ruby the Liberal]

9. Ah - gotcha.

Thanks. Hadn't been following the Embassy situation this week.

:hi:

[bemildred]

10. Things really went all to hell just in the last day or so. nt

[Scurrilous]

15. Israel is paying for Gaza war with Turkey and Egypt crises

During that fateful Hanukkah, the Israel Defense Forces attacked failing to see that war on their televisions as people saw it in Istanbul and Cairo.

<snip>

"During Hanukkah 2008, Israel attacked Gaza in Operation Cast Lead. Now it is eating the bitter fruit of that operation, which was the turning point in the attitude of the world and the region toward Israel and its belligerent and violent policies. The shock waves take time to arrive, but now they are coming, and they are big. Every day has new dangers. Some are the result of Israel's actions, its aggression, its euphoria, its arrogance and carelessness. The outcome: The only two countries that ever accepted it in the region, Turkey and Egypt, are burning their relations with Israel. The first was via a government decision, the second that of an angry mob.

During that fateful Hanukkah, the Israel Defense Forces attacked Gaza and its defenseless population. Israelis did not see that war on their televisions as people saw it in Istanbul and Cairo. Here they made do with an army of pundits who reported fighting in Gaza when there was almost none. Here they hid from us most of the horrific pictures that were broadcast elsewhere in the world - including, of course, Istanbul and Cairo. At the time, they only counted the numbers of the (many) Palestinian dead and the numbers of the (few) Israelis, and therefore the operation was seen as a colossal military, diplomatic and even moral success.

But it was a resounding failure. What is happening now in Egypt and Turkey must be added to the balance of Operation Cast Lead. Not that it's all because of Cast Lead. Hatred for Israel flared before it, but Cast Lead was the turning point when a good deal of the world reversed its attitude toward Israel.

Not that everything was Israel's fault, but its governments - both former and current - have done too little to lower the flames and a great deal to raise them. Yes to settlements and no to peace arrangements; no to apologies and yes to a light trigger finger for Sinai and the Mavi Marmara. As British journalist Robert Fisk put it so well on Saturday: "Israel thinks too little and shoots too much."

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-is-paying-for-gaza-war-with-turkey-and-egypt-crises-1.383688

[aranthus]

18. It's not that simple.

The Mavi Mara incident is an obvious major factor, but Cast Lead? Maybe, but I think that there are bigger fish frying, such as the dispute over gas fields under the Eastern Mediterranean, and general hostility to Israel in the Egyptian populace, which is being used as a rallying point against the military rulers.