by Zachary Fisher • Aug 16, 2012 at 2:20 pm European Union Foreign Policy and Anti-Semitic foul smelling swine, Chief Catherine Ashton shakes the hand of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Photo: Getty Images) Related Topics: Europe, Israel | Zachary Fisher --------------- by Zachary Fisher • Aug 14, 2012 at 2:36 pm http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/blog/2012/08/morsi-power-grab Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi (Photo: AFP) Related Topics: Egypt | Zachary Fisher
EU Marks Part of Israeli City as Settlement
Morsi's Power Grab?
Sunday, 19 August 2012
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Amid pressure from pro-Palestinian groups, the European Union (EU) Tuesday released a list of Israeli settlements beyond the Green Line from which manufactured products will not be allowed duty-free entrance into Europe. For the first time, parts of the Israeli city Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut -- often simply called Modi'in -- were added to the list. Modi'in sits on the West Bank border, with small parts located across the Green Line. Under the EU-Israel free trade agreement, Israeli goods produced inside the Green Line are entitled to tariff exemptions while goods from outside that borderline are not.
The EU move is unlikely to have much of an effect on the Israeli economy. Still, as Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute chairman Ramzi Gabbay said, this new EU policy may create a bad precedent. For its part, Israel is protesting the EU decision, with the Israeli Foreign Ministry calling the whole of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut "an integral part of Israel". According to Israeli Information Minister Yuli Edelstein, "If Modi'in isn't a part of Israel then the EU is not part of reality. As far as the EU is concerned, it appears that Tel Aviv, Itamar, Modi'in and Beit El are all in illegitimate territory..."
The EU is doing nothing more than politicizing its trade agreement with Israel by determining what should be considered Israeli territory and Palestinian territory in the future. The precedent created, however, is troubling as it could open the floodgates to all sorts of challenges to Israel's sovereign and territorial legitimacy.
In a surprise move, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi ordered Defense Minister Mohammed Hussein Tantawi to resign on Sunday. Tantawi was Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces and chaired the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), making him the interim ruler of Egypt following the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak. Morsi also removed Tantawi's deputy from power, Army Chief of Staff Sami Anan. Both deposed men were given honorary advisory roles, and career military man Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi was appointed to take Tantawi's place.
Al-Sisi is both the first defense minister to be appointed by a democratically elected civilian leader and the first to not have the high rank of field marshal. He is believed to have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Morsi is a former member, though he denies belonging to the Islamist group. Al-Sisi was head of military intelligence during the post-Mubarak period. The White House, for its part, said that it is familiar with him and welcomed the appointment.
Though president for only two months, relations between Morsi and Tantawi were tense from the start. SCAF dissolved the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated parliamentin June and declared that the new president was prohibited from holding power over the budget, the legislature, or the drafting of a new constitution. SCAF also retained power over the military.
Tensions were further exacerbated earlier this month when 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed by terrorists in the Sinai, humiliating the Egyptian military.
Along with forcing Tantawi to resign Sunday, Morsi nullified SCAF's June decisionlimiting presidential powers, vesting himself with control over the military as well as a broad range of executive and legislative powers. Morsi also potentially gave himself a decisive role in writing the still unfinished Egyptian constitution; if the current constituent assembly is unable to draft an agreeable document, Morsi will bepermitted to appoint a new one.
Morsi's changes could be indicative of an attempt at a "soft coup" against remnants of the Mubarak era, but they could also very well begin an Islamic revolution of sorts by weakening the military. Either way, the Egyptian president and his affiliated organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, now have control over Egypt's government and must be held responsible for Egyptian policy going forward.
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