Three papers discuss Islamist Mohammed Morsi\’s victory in the Egyptian presidential elections:
Yediot Aharonot notes that at the behest of the military, Morsi announced that he would appoint two secular vice presidents and declares: "There is no argument that the picture that arises from yesterday\’s election results shows that Egypt is split between two camps: Secular vs. Islamists, bearded men mad with victory vs. liberals and intellectuals who do not know what their lives will be like tomorrow." The author avers that "While the military indeed promised that the soldiers would return to their bases, the 24 members of the military council do not intend to move," and suggests that the generals would like to see Morsi appoint the secular Mohammed El-Baradei as Prime Minister, further curtailing his authority. The paper believes that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "should take the microphone and congratulate the new president," and adds: "Netanyahu must remind him of the significance and importance of the peace [agre! ement] and wish him success in maintaining it. Morsi will not love receiving congratulations from Jerusalem. So what? In any case, we are heading for a colder peace. Even if he won, his wars are not over. Maybe he will see – or they will take care to show him from the palace – completely different things than what he has known up to now."
Ma\’ariv believes that the revolution which toppled Hosni Mubarak "was stolen yesterday by the Muslim Brotherhood," and cautions: "It may never be returned to its owners," the now pushed-aside "young people, liberals, intellectuals and secular." The author says that his movement\’s slogan – "Islam is the answer" – notwithstanding, Morsi knows that "Islam cannot feed 85 million hungry mouths, provide jobs to the staggering numbers of unemployed, rehabilitate tourism and save the crumbling economy." The paper believes that Morsi will have to deal with the problems of reducing tensions with the military, defining his own powers and deciding how Egypt will look in the new era. The author concludes: "It is doubtful whether the new model, which has yet to be formulated, will be better and easier for establishing frozen, but proper, peaceful relations between Israel and Egypt."
Yisrael Hayom suggests that "The difficulties will come to the fore gradually. When Morsi finds it difficult to bridge between Egypt\’s diplomatic-economic interests and the disappointment of the masses, he is liable to be hit with populist demands. The Middle East\’s regular model is to incite against Israel." The author suggests that "The flag of peace, which has flown all these years at half-mast over relations with Egypt, has, upon the advent of the \’Arab Spring\’ been lowered to quarter-mast. Lower than that is out of the question, Israel cannot expect Egypt to wipe out the terrorist organizations in Gaza, but it has the ability to prevent them from using its territory for actions against Israel." The paper asserts: "Morsi\’s election is tough for Israel," and advises "courage and patience," in response.
Haaretz discusses the violence that permeated the previously peaceful social-justice protests over the weekend, abd asserts: “The Israel Police must immediately change its outlook and behavior toward legitimate acts of protest. And the protest leaders must call on their followers to eschew violence, despite the unacceptable behavior by police.”
The Jerusalem Post discusses today’s visit to Israel of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and states that “it is impossible to ignore the many points of dispute between the nations. Despite the strong relations between Jerusalem and Moscow, the Kremlin provides crucial support to countries extremely antagonistic toward Israel – particularly Syria and Iran.” While the editor is aware that Russia will always follow its own best interests in the region, he opines that “If Putin does not want Israel to reach the point where it feels cornered, the newly reelected Russian president would do well to use his influence with the Islamic Republic to stop its nuclear quest before it is too late.”
[Semadar Peri, Oded Granot and Dan Margalit wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma\’ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]