Egypt's president wrote to Peres: I hope for peace and stability in Middle East

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Don't we all.

Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi sent a missive to President Shimon Peres, wishing stability and security for all of the region's nations, including Israel.

"I am looking forward to exerting our best efforts to get the Middle East peace process back to its right track in order to achieve security and stability for all peoples of the region, including [the] Israeli people," Morsi said in the missive.

The short letter, dating July 15, was delivered Tuesday to Peres' military adviser Brigadier General Hasson Hasson by a diplomat from the Egyptian embassy in Tel Aviv. The missive came as a response to a message sent by Peres a month ago, in which the president congratulated Morsi for his victory in the elections, and offered his blessing ahead of the month of Ramadan.

In his answer in English, the Egyptian president thanked Peres for his congratulatory message.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/egypt-s-president-wrote-to-peres-i-hope-for-peace-and-stability-in-middle-east-1.455001

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1. Dispute over letter leaves Egypt-Israel relations confused

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The office of the Israel President, Shimon Peres, first raised expectations on Tuesday when it released a letter it said it had received by fax from Mr Morsi via the Egyptian embassy in Tel Aviv. The letter thanked Mr Peres for his earlier letter of congratulations at the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan and expressed hopes for more co-operation with Israel on peace and security issues.
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Later in the day, however, an official spokesman for Mr Morsi denied in a statement to an Egyptian newspaper that he had sent any conciliatory messages, and called reports of such a letter ''slander''.

The episode underscored the delicacy of ties between the neighbouring countries, which have maintained a peaceful, if publicly frosty, relationship for three decades but face new tensions as Egypt comes more under the sway of Mr Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood, once repressed in Egypt, has long been hostile towards Israel although its leaders have moderated their views in recent months. Among the Egyptian populace, antipathy towards Israel and support for the Palestinians runs deep.

The dispute erupted as Mr Panetta, visiting Egypt and Israel, declared that Mr Morsi was ''his own man'', a sign of American support for a former leader of the Brotherhood.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/dispute-over-letter-leaves-egyptisrael-relations-confused-20120801-23fkq.html

[Bradlad]

2. Who do you think is lying? n/t

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3. Generally, I assume all politicians are lying.

Here I think Morsi is dissembling. It seems unlikely to me that Peres would show such a fake letter, but I would not be surprised if Morsi lied about sending it for domestic political reasons. Of course, there are various other speculations, but I don't see why either party would want to pursue them. The only other thing that makes any sense to me is somebody in Egypt trying to undermine Morsi, in other words Egyptian dirty politics.

Edit: of course, it's can alway be a mistake to think there is a rational explanation, but the fax would be traceable I would think, or very suspect if not.

[Bradlad]

4. Thanks

One thing: If Israel planted a fake to create problems for Mursi, I doubt that any later "expert" examination of the letter done by Israel would make any difference to the Egyptian public - it seems the effect would have been made and not much could be done about it after the fact in terms of Egyptian public reaction.

Although I agree that "It seems unlikely to me that Peres would show such a fake letter" - at this level of international relations, sometimes what seems the most unlikely turns out later to be the truth.

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5. Well, it's not that I think Peres would not lie, or have been lied to.

It's just in this case I don't see the point, Peres (and Israel) would gain nothing by undermining Morsi. There is already enough trouble up North.

WRT your first paragraph, that's the "Egyptian dirty politics" part, so it seems we agree. Possibly why Morsi was so quick to deny. I'm sure Morsi has enemies, but he's in a very weak position, politically, nobody is really beholden to him, so unless you are sure of getting your own guy in, some choice you prefer, undermining him can be a big mistake. And that's more or less why I don't think Israel would even consider it, you won't do better with the next guy.

Edit: one other possibility is that Morsi didn't expect Peres to go public with it, a misunderstanding.

[Bradlad]

6. Makes sense. Except . .

. . I'm not so sure about that last sentence: "one other possibility is that Morsi didn't expect Peres to go public with it, a misunderstanding."

It is my sense that anyone who rises to the top in Arab politics is by necessity a master at intrigue and protecting themselves. I'm not saying that Israelis or Americans are that much different - just that having a free press and opponents with the legally protected power to discredit you if they can makes Western leaders less able to pull off a deceptive project like that - not that they don't try occasionally. But in our system those things are usually found out.

So, it doesn't seem so likely to me that Mursi would make such a mistake as sending a letter that could damage him - having absolutely no power to control it's dissemination after it was sent. Or, maybe he's not so competent and his ascendancy was not so much of his doing. Perhaps he was put in place by the men behind the curtain who will now make sure such messages are not sent in the future without their approval.

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12. A couple comments:

1.) I would ordinarily expect that there were routine means of communication between the governments, which are after all at peace and have normal relations, so ordinarily I would expect these things to be checked out as you suggest before anything is done publically. But Morsi is new at this, naive politicallly - supposedly, and Peres is getting up there, so it seems possible there was some error or misunderstanding or the like.

2.) If that was not the case, then a whole bunch of other options open up, and I don't see how to sort them out at present, since it would all depend on who wanted to stir what sort of shit up, a vast field of possibility.

3.) The veracity of the letter is being denied vehemently now.

4.) Why a fax? I don't get that.

[Bradlad]

13. All good points. n/t

[kayecy]

7. The sender of a letter normally has the copyright......

The sender of a letter normally has the copyright......Strange that Peres released it without apparently the writer's permission.

[aranthus]

9. You're reaching.

There is no copyright in the international world unless there is some treaty that says so. And I'm pretty sure that diplomatic notes don't count. So if you put something out there you run the risk that the recipient will go public. But thanks for proving that you'll try to blame the Israelis for anything and everything. I appreciate your consistency, if not your motives.

[aranthus]

8. I think your last point is probably the truth.

Last edited Wed Aug 1, 2012, 03:14 PM - Edit history (1)

Chalk it up to Morsi's inexperience (He woun't send that kind of letter again), and Peres' foolishness. I have said eleswhere that Morsi took the risk that Peres would publish the letter, but that doesn't excuse what appears to be a stupid move on Peres' part. What good does it do Israel (or anyone) to publish the letter? If Morsi is willing to set the policy that the letter contains, then why undermine him and that policy by publishing it? Stupid.

[bemildred]

10. That would be the argument.

To be honest, it's all speculation, and I can't really make up my mind.

[Bradlad]

11. Just playing devil's advocate . .

. . but I can imagine a meeting of Israeli leadership concluding that publishing the letter would push Mursi to tip his hand - or at least give some indication of where things are headed. They might believe it would be better to know sooner than later what Mursi really has in mind re: relations with Israel. Israel would need to make some important decisions either way and the sooner the better.

If it's going be to good for Israel (and peace) then maybe it's better that Egyptians don't get a chance to build expectations of the opposite kind. If those expectations become too widespread and solid they may dictate the policy rather than Mursi. If it's going to be bad for Israel (and peace) then it won't hurt to plant some seeds of mistrust between Mursi and the Egyptian people early on.

If this is possibly the case (my wild speculation that Israel wanted to force the issue) then Mursi's response (assuring his people that it's all a big Zionist lie) would seem to indicate that it's not going to be a smooth relationship.

[aranthus]

14. I understand the point, however, Morsi's response should have been expected.

What else would a new leader do besides reassure his base?

[Bradlad]

16. I guess that depends . .

I guess that depends on where he's planning to take Egypt and how much power he has to take it there. It seems to me that a newly elected president has a period during which they can set the tone for the administration as well as establish their most critical priorities. It seems increasingly to me that peace with Israel is not high on that list.

[Bradlad]

15. Here's the NYT article.

Here's the NYT article.

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17. Uncertainty Over Letter Underscores Delicate Ties

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The office of President Shimon Peres of Israel first raised expectations on Tuesday when it released a letter that it said it had received by fax from Mr. Morsi via the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv. The letter thanked Mr. Peres for his earlier letter of congratulations at the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan and expressed hopes for more cooperation with Israel on peace and security issues.

Later in the day, however, an official spokesman for Mr. Morsi denied in a statement to an Egyptian newspaper that Mr. Morsi had sent any conciliatory messages, and called reports of such a letter “slander.”

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Mr. Peres’s office said the letter arrived through official channels, with the Israeli president’s military secretary serving as a conduit.

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The letter bore Mr. Morsi’s typewritten name at the bottom, but it was not signed by hand. Looking as if it may have been dictated, it came on a plain piece of paper, with no letterhead or insignia of the Egyptian presidency. A cover note from the Egyptian Embassy bore official embassy letterhead.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/world/middleeast/uncertainty-over-letter-underscores-delicate-ties.html?pagewanted=all

[oberliner]

18. Mossad hoax?

It’s strange that Peres has gone out of his way to embarrass the Egyptian embassy by pointing out that it received the letter from it. Usually leaders of countries try to avoid taking a dump on the doorstep of a diplomat representing a neighboring country. Which leads me to the possibility that the Israeli government, which has strained relations with the new Islamist government, would find it in its interest to embarrass Morsi as well. It’s entirely possible that the Mossad or similar elements within Israel would’ve put this little charade together for their amusement and the discomfiture of their perceived enemy in Cairo.

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2012/08/01/egyptian-military-out-to-embarrass-new-president/

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19. That seems irrational to me.

So I can't really say much about how likely it would be.

First para in post #5 briefly discusses why.

[Igel]

20. Yet it just serves to make Morsi more recalcitrant.

Is that really the Mossad goal?

We could even assume, for argument, that the letter as sent wasn't so much a sincere appeal for peace but diplomatic frippery designed to elicit the actual goal, some sort of negotations.

Or we could assume that Morsi would assume Peres would kick the letter "upstairs" and further buttress the amicable and warm relations that Panetta is seeking to establish.

If you like speculation, the sky's the limit.