Whither Egypt?

Two days after the “democraticoup” in Egypt, Friday’s Hebrew dailies are filled with speculation and opinion pieces discussing the implications for Israel. Focused on the country from the south, reports on former prime minister Ehud Olmert’s trial, which would have been front-page material, are pushed to the inner pages.

Haaretz asks where the revolution in Egypt is headed, and features three columnists to try to shed light on some unanswered questions — questions being addressed by all the Hebrew press.

One of those columns is by the paper’s Mideast specialist, Zvi Barel, who points out that although the Muslim Brotherhood was ousted from power, it has established itself as a force to be reckoned with in Egyptian politics. “The situation before Mohammed Morsi’s rise to power,” in which the Brotherhood was illegal and frowned upon, “will not return,” he writes.

Right below the large headline stating “Hope in the skies of Cairo,” Yedioth Ahronoth reports on explosions heard in Eilat late Thursday. Although there was no siren sounded and no explosions sighted, residents in Israel’s southern resort city feared the sounds were a result of rockets fired from the Sinai Peninsula.

“I heard three serious explosions without a whistle,” Ron, a resident of Eilat, told the tabloid. He said he, his mother, and his brother ran to the bomb shelter. It was “frightening,” he stated.

In one of the paper’s analyses, columnist Alex Fishman writes that the loss of Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood was a tough blow to Hamas. “This experiment, of establishing an Islamic rule in the largest Arab country, has failed, and it will undoubtedly affect the Islamic mini-state run by Hamas in Gaza.”

Israel Hayom chooses to focus on the response, or lack of one, by the official Israeli establishment. Stating Jerusalem was intensely focused on the developments to its south, the paper leads its article with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Fourth of July address. “The US and the entire world know that in the entire Middle East only Israel is the real democracy,” Netanyahu said.

“Israel will always be an island of democracy and stability in the Middle East,” the prime minister added.

Despite Netanyahu’s hints to Egypt, the paper notes, no Israeli official has said anything about what happened. “Israel doesn’t want to be involved,” an unnamed source from Netanyahu’s office is quoted as saying.

The policy of being a silent bystander is supported by veteran columnist and military analyst Yoav Limor, who writes that ministers, bureaucrats and the security establishment have been ordered to remain silent. “What happens in Cairo is an internal Egyptian affair, which at the moment doesn’t have to do with us,” he states.

“The relationships with Egypt’s army and its security forces are good and ongoing, and during the last few days — at the peak of the demonstrations — officials visited Cairo for coordination talks,” Limor writes. So long as Gaza and the Sinai remain quiet and stable, he concludes, “Israel needs to continue watching in silence.”

In Maariv, the headline openly asks whether the situation in Egypt is good or bad for Israel. One of the articles is dedicated to the security cooperation between the countries, especially regarding the prevention of arms smuggling from the Sinai to Gaza. “The fact that the Egyptian army continues to set the tone in Egypt causes cautious optimism in Israel,” the tabloid writes.

Besides the fact that Egypt helped contain the Hamas government in Gaza, the paper writes, based on talks with unnamed officials, “Security cooperation between the IDF and the Egyptian army was successful also in the Sinai.” That cooperation, the article explains, helped combat terror cells operating in the large desert — those that also tried to target Israel.

Excluding Yedioth, all the Israeli dailies report on the court session from Olmert’s trial, as the state appealed to the Supreme Court to overturn a decision acquitting the former prime minister on charges of fraud and corruption. The fact that Yedioth hasn’t reported on the appeal has caused some to openly criticize the paper for its pro-Olmert stance.

Isn’t it a problem when a public servant “doesn’t know how much he received and where the money is?” Justice Neil Hendel asked Olmert’s attorneys during the hearing, a quote turned into Israel Hayom’s headline for the story and a question to which the lawyers replied that the act, even if problematic, wasn’t criminal.

Also from the courtroom, Maariv reports that the biggest question the judges of the Supreme Court will need to determine is on which side lies the burden of proof, a decision that will affect more than only Olmert. Is the act of receiving and holding on to large sums of cash something a public servant can legitimately do, regardless of what that money was intended for, or is it a suspicious move? The answer to this question, writes Baruch Kara, is the key.