Egypt’s New Rulers Sacrifice Revenue on the Altar of Their Anti-Israel Vendetta

Scarcely a day goes by without some pundit or diplomat proclaiming that we shouldn’t worry about Islamists’ electoral victories in places like Egypt and Tunisia, because they will soon be moderated by the demands of governance – primarily, the need for economic development to improve their voters’ lives. Unfortunately, Egypt’s new rulers don’t seem to have gotten the message: This week, they canceled an annual trip by Israeli pilgrims to the grave of a Jewish sage.

In other words, they announced that pandering to anti-Israel sentiment is higher priority than reviving Egypt’s battered tourism industry, its second-largest revenue source after expatriate remittances: Not only are they forgoing the revenues this particular trip would bring (550 Israelis went last year, and more would likely have joined had Cairo not capped the delegation’s size), but they are even willing to endanger future revenues from other sources by using an excuse certain to deter other tourists: that Egypt’s “political and security situation” makes it impossible to guarantee the pilgrims’ safety.

Technically, this decision was made by the transitional military government. But the Muslim Brotherhood, winner of the recent elections, is the one that led the drive to cancel the pilgrimage, terming it “unacceptable legally and politically.” The Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party reportedly organized a human chain to stop the “Zionists” from reaching the grave of Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira in Damanhur; it also issued open threats against the pilgrims: Brotherhood official Gamal Heshmat declared the pilgrimage would be a “suicide mission” for the Israelis.

In fairness, however, it’s not just the Brotherhood that deems hostility toward Israel higher priority than economic development: The Egyptian media reported that 31 parties and organizations joined the campaign against the pilgrimage, including the one led by former International Atomic Energy Agency director Mohammed ElBaradei, a darling of the West.

According to Egypt’s official statistics agency, CAPMAS, the country suffered a 35 percent drop in tourist arrivals and a 26 percent drop in overnight hotel stays during the first nine months of 2011. Given tourism’s importance to the economy, one would think reversing this decline would be the new rulers’ top priority. But clearly, it comes a distant second to pursuing their anti-Israel vendetta.

Nor is this decision a fluke: The same order of priorities could be seen in September’s decision to ban exports of palm fronds (a crucial component of the lulav, a ritual object used on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot) not only to Israel, but to Jewish communities worldwide. Once again, an opportunity to earn foreign currency was trumped by anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiment.

This order of priorities should deeply worry both Israel and the West, because the same pundits have been claiming the need for economic development will also force the Muslim Brotherhood to uphold the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. But if Egypt’s new rulers are so eager to sacrifice desperately needed revenue on the altar of their anti-Israel vendetta, it’s far from certain they wouldn’t be willing to sacrifice peace as well.