“Shortly after thousands of incensed demonstrators forced their way into the Israeli Embassy in Cairo over the weekend, both Egypt and Israel issued statements reaffirming their commitments to the 1979 peace treaty, the first to be signed between an Arab country and Israel.

But the country that once led the way in taking steps toward normalizing relations with the Jewish state now seems to be backing away, particularly after the February 11 ouster of Hosni Mubarak. Despite the potential for cooperation and the geographical proximity, cultural ties, tourism, commerce, manufacturing, and other fields of activity never really flourished between the two countries.

Yet even a tepid, stable peace with Egypt has been of utmost strategic importance to Israel. The quiet along our mutual border has allowed the IDF to redirect resources to other potentially inflammatory locations – south Lebanon, the Gaza Strip – while reducing the strain on reservists. Since the Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007, the IDF and Egypt have quietly coordinated efforts against Iranian-supplied arms smuggling. But the geopolitical map is changing.”

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