BICOM

A march calling for the expulsion of Israel’s ambassador to Egypt is due to take place in Cairo today. The march will conclude in Tahrir Square, the central square of the city that witnessed the mass demonstrations that ended the rule of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The rally is set to be the latest in a series of stormy anti-Israel demonstrations that have taken place in Cairo since the terror incident in Eilat last week, and the subsequent deaths of a number of members of the Egyptian security forces as Israel pursued the terrorists into Sinai. Until now, the demonstrations have taken place in the Cairo neighbourhood of Giza, where the Israeli embassy is situated. Initial anger focused on what was reported in the Egyptian media as an Israeli refusal to hold a joint investigation with the Egyptian authorities into the incidents in Sinai. The Israeli authorities have now made clear that it will agree to a joint investigation. The demonstration, however, is proceeding as planned. The Freedom and Justice Party, the official party of the Muslim Brotherhood, has announced that it will not take part in today’s demonstration, though it supports the ‘re-evaluation’ of the peace agreement with Israel. A breakaway faction, however, will take part.

Despite pressure from the public, the Egyptian leadership has assured Israel and the international community in the past that it does not intend to abandon its peace treaty. The treaty serves Egypt’s national interest and the leadership is unlikely to jeopardise its diplomatic and military interests to satisfy popular public demand.

Israel, meanwhile, is demanding that Egypt replace the flags of Israel removed by demonstrators this week from the Israeli Embassy in Cairo and from the home of Israeli Ambassador to Egypt, Yitzhak Levanon. The Egyptian authorities are currently refusing to comply, saying that ‘the masses’ would not permit this.