Egypt's Cold Peace With Israel Is Starting to Thaw

When the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt (معاهدة السلام المصرية الإسرائيلية‎) was signed back in the late 1970s, many political pundits were happy about the prospective of peace in the Middle East.  Much was given to get Israeli-Egyptian relations to that point, including the unfortunate death of Anwar Sadat, an Egyptian leader who was actually working with the Israelis for peace instead of planning Israel's destruction. 

Cold peace between the two nations doesn't solve the root problem, mainly that of Egyptian anti-Semitism.  Egyptian hatred of the Jew is nothing new.  Whether with Nasser or the past decade, it has always been impediment to a longer-lasting peace.  The Arab Spring has caused even more pandemonium in Egypt than any of us cared for.  Egyptian citizens are no longer able to tolerate the total lack of freedom in their society. 

It would be nice to see some economic and political reform occur in Egypt.  It would also be nice to see the Egyptian citizenry see the cause of their stagnant standards of living to be the Egyptian government.  However, based on some recent Pew Center data that shows that a majority of Egyptians want the treaty with Israel to be annulled, Israel has the potential to be a scapegoat for Egypt's internal problems, as if this weren't history just repeating itself.  This remains to be seen since the Egyptian elections will not occur until this November.  It is equally true that the increasingly anti-Israel sentiment in Egypt can be used during the electorate process to get a fundamentalist group such as the Muslim Brotherhood into power and break the cold peace that has lasted between Israel and Egypt for all these years.  As for the outcome, only time will tell.