Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told Reuters the senators made clear that Morsi’s remarks “counter the goal of friendship between our two peoples.” They clearly do and raise the question of why the United States should be sending Egypt $2 billion a year (about two-thirds of that in military aid).
If that’s the price of Morsi’s continued support of Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel, Washington shouldn’t be counting on it lasting very long.
Morsi did help arrange a cease-fire in Gaza in Israel’s recent retaliation against Hamas rocket attacks. But Hamas, perpetrator of most of those attacks, is a terrorist organization affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, which now controls Egypt and which was led by Morsi.
And it’s also Morsi who has pushed Hamas into attempts to reconcile with Fatah, the heart of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. That reconciliation, if achieved without renunciation of terror, would add to the dangers faced by Israel. And since Morsi has come to power Israel has been forced to build a fence along its Sinai border, where would-be terrorists have been allowed to roam freely.
If Morsi believes peace with Israel is in Egypt’s interest — it most definitely is — he should be trying to persuade Egyptians of that. So far from Morsi all we’ve gotten is silence.
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The Boston Herald, editorial