Tapes Reveal Egyptian Leaders' Tacit Acceptance of Jerusalem Move

[Eugene]

Source: New York Times

Tapes Reveal Egyptian Leaders’ Tacit Acceptance of Jerusalem Move

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK JAN. 6, 2018

As President Trump moved last month to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, an Egyptian intelligence officer quietly placed phone calls to the hosts of several influential talk shows in Egypt.

“Like all our Arab brothers,” Egypt would denounce the decision in public, the officer, Capt. Ashraf al-Kholi, told the hosts.

But strife with Israel was not in Egypt’s national interest, Captain Kholi said. He told the hosts that instead of condemning the decision, they should persuade their viewers to accept it. Palestinians, he suggested, should content themselves with the dreary West Bank town that currently houses the Palestinian Authority, Ramallah.

“How is Jerusalem different from Ramallah, really?” Captain Kholi asked repeatedly in four audio recordings of his telephone calls obtained by The New York Times.

“Exactly that,” agreed one host, Azmi Megahed, who confirmed the authenticity of the recording.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/06/world/middleeast/egypt-jerusalem-talk-shows.html

[oberliner]

1. "the dreary West Bank town that currently houses the Palestinian Authority, Ramallah"

A little editorializing there - calling Ramallah "dreary".

[Igel]

2. Makes you wonder.

Is the reporting there as simple news, "Really, we didn't anticipate that people would acquiesce instead of starting the war that we expected!" or as manipulation, "Really? They're going to acquiesce to something so anti-Palestinian as to let Trump decide to acknowledge something we don't like? Well, maybe we can stir up some problems and bring pressure to bear to accomplish worthy NYT foreign policy goals."