Why is Israel supporting the Egyptian coup?

You may recall Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip in November last year. The aggression led to the martyrdom and wounding of about 330 Palestinians and followed the assassination of Al-Qassam Brigades commander Ahmed Jabari the day before. You may also recall how quickly President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt took a series of public and secret steps which immediately put an end to the attack, which many analysts and experts regarded as a successful qualitative change in addressing the situation.

At the time, President Morsi took 6 direct measures: he recalled the Egyptian ambassador from Tel Aviv; expelled the Israeli ambassador from Cairo; announced the opening of the Rafah crossing 24 hours a day; sent Prime Minister Dr Hisham Qandil, along with a delegation of senior Egyptian officials, for a solidarity visit to the Gaza Strip; and held an urgent meeting of the Arab League while requesting an urgent meeting of the United Nations to discuss the implications of Israel’s aggression.

The secret measures were only reported recently by Israel Today newspaper, which said, “We refrained from launching a ground war on Gaza after Morsi’s threat to cancel the Camp David agreement.” Moreover, the former Israeli ambassador to Egypt, Zvi Mazel, admitted then that “the manner in which President Morsi dealt with the most recent attack on the Gaza Strip indicated that he was a difficult enemy of Israel.” Israeli commentator Ron Ben-Yishai, noted: “President Morsi constantly changed the rules of the game, and the solution was for the Americans to take action.”

In an article published in Britain’s Guardian newspaper, Noam Chomsky suggested that the differences between Morsi and Obama proved to America that Egypt is no longer an area under US influence, or at least different than it was during Mubarak’s reign; Mubarak adopted the approach of soft politics with the West and they were used to him meeting all their demands, including those harming Egypt’s national security.

However, said Chomsky, Morsi was not a member of the military institution and did not agree to utter the sentence that was suggested for him to say at a meeting with Obama, which was: “Egypt and America will work together to find solutions in order for the Palestinian and Israeli people to have a lasting security and comprehensive peace.” The purpose of this was to put pressure (on him to mention the word “Israel”, if only once, in order for it to count as his recognition of the state of Israel and the Jews, who Morsi once referred to as “apes and swine” during Mubarak’s time in office. This caused the Morsi-Obama relationship to be become strained and had each party looking for solutions. It was enough for the US Secretary of State to tell his Gulf State counterparts that the Muslim Brotherhood is a threat in order for them to declare Egypt secretly and publically as an enemy, and this is exactly what happened.

A few days ago, Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed Israel’s promise to Egypt’s pre-coup Defence Minister Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi that US support will not stop in the event that President Morsi was removed by means of a military coup. Moreover, the Israeli satellite station, Channel 10, announced “the Mossad’s role in planning the coup, and the long hours the head of the Mossad spent planning the coup in the UAE”, which confirms that the Israeli government played a major role, both publically and secretly, in the events occurring in Egypt.

Also, Turkey’s Anadolu News Agency reported that Israeli planes landed in Cairo during the dispersal of the sit-ins in Rabaa Al-Adawiyya and Al-Nahda Squares. It was obvious, claimed Anadolu, that the aircraft were carrying weapons and advanced incendiary materials used to carry out the massacres, as well as in the killing of peaceful protesters during the week of Eid al-Fitr.

Haaretz also revealed that the Israeli Foreign Ministry launched a media and diplomatic campaign to explain the Egyptian position (in support of the military coup) and to prevent the European Union and Washington from taking an opposing stand on the massacres committed by the military against the Muslim Brotherhood, as that would have resulted in policies directly affecting the military rule and leaving its mark on the Egyptian street.

A senior commentator for Israel Today said, “We will cry blood for generations if we allow the failure of the coup and the Brotherhood returns to power. Israel must do the impossible to ensure that the Brotherhood does not return to power because it will seek revenge against Israel.” He also added that “Al-Sisi committed murders because he realises the significance of his failure, and we must work to help his rule; this is a matter of life or death for him as well as us.”

Former ambassador Zvi Mazel added, “If it does not provide Colonel Al-Sisi with full support, the West will regret it for centuries.”

The joy and happiness of Israeli politicians, analysts, and journalists regarding the brutal military coup in Egypt was obvious, to the point that they exposed those who carried out this fascist coup when they announced that they had already known about it officially well before it was executed. They also announced that the first official visit by the “interim” Egyptian government, several hours after the coup, was to Israel, and included a meeting with senior military officials, as well as Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, the godfather of the coup. In addition to this, they named “the man dreaming of becoming president”, Hamdeen Sabahi, and his visit to Israel and his meeting with Mossad officers, perhaps to gain their blessings.

What occurred and continues to occur in Sinai, including the killings, burning of homes, destruction of mosques and the detention of helpless people, under the pretext of “fighting terrorism”, as well as the imposition of a suffocating blockade on the Gaza Strip and the demonisation of Hamas in the Egyptian media, is all about maintaining close ties with Israel. The links are now seen to be much deeper and greater than anyone could have imagined.

Reports in the Israeli media confirm the Egyptian army’s plan to cooperate with the Israel Defence Forces in the near future in the overthrow of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It seems that every time the coup leaders start to sink, they seek help by cooperating further with the Zionist enemy and the Americans.

None of the above is obtained from secret documents; it is all in the public domain via the English and Hebrew media. It proves conclusively Israel’s involvement in the bloody military coup in Egypt and its determined defence of the overthrow of democracy to the West. However, what has been unexpected is the fact that the people of Egypt have not simply given up and accepted the events of July; they are not helpless and submissive, and content to live under military rule. They have emerged as politically aware, persevering and strong, and determined to end the fascist military coup in every peaceful way possible, prosecute the coup leaders, and restore full legitimacy, freedom and democracy in Egypt.

History will record this as a painful and sad time in which coordination, planning and the “same” strategy was applied with the Zionist enemy; the military coup leaders and those who supported them will be in disgrace. It is inevitable that the coup government will fall and that those guilty of treachery will be held accountable sooner or later. If history teaches us nothing else, it teaches us that this will always happen.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.