A spokesman for the Islamist president announced on television that the ejection of top military figures associated with the old regime represented the completion of the Egyptian revolution.
The spokesman added that a constitutional declaration passed by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which forbade the president making military appointments, was canceled.
The council seized power after Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, and dissolved Egypt’s lower house of parliament after it came under the control of Islamist representatives through elections.
Tantawi and Enan were given honorary roles as advisers, the spokesman said, before announcing that the heads of the Egyptian Air Force, air defense system, and Navy had also been ejected from their posts.
Although their replacements are expected to be secular security figures like their predecessors, the move is widely seen as a signal by the Muslim Brotherhood that power is now firmly concentrated in the hands of the Islamist civilian government.
It was not clear how far the measures were agreed upon with the dismissed Tantawi, nor how far they would shift the power balance between the generals and Morsy’s long-suppressed Muslim Brotherhood.
A member of the military council told Reuters that Morsy, a moderate Islamist popularly elected in June but with constitutional powers sharply circumscribed in advance by the generals, had consulted Tantawi, 76, and Enan, 64, the military chief of staff, before ordering both men to retire.
However, coupled with the cancellation of the constitutional declaration issued just before Morsy’s election, the surprise move seemed to indicate a substantial reordering of Egypt’s political forces as it waits for a new constitution after six decades of unbroken army rule.
Hmmm.
DEBKA reported that Egyptian tanks have advanced to Israel's border. I haven't been able to confirm that from any other source. Egypt does have 60 M-60 tanks in Sinai, but those aren't necessarily on Israel's border.
Reports out of Cairo indicate that six Americans who were working for American-funded organizations promoting democracy in Egypt have been barred from leaving the country. One of them is Sam LaHood, the son of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Ray LaHood is a Republican and the son of a Lebanese father and an American mother. Sam (pictured with his father at the father's swearing-in ceremony) is being held in what's being called de facto detention. And the Obama administration is said to be outraged (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).
The travel ban came to light on Thursday after the International Republican Institute, an American-backed democracy-building group, disclosed that the Egyptian authorities had stopped its Egypt director, Sam LaHood, at the Cairo airport on Saturday before he could board a flight to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
Mr. LaHood is the son of Ray LaHood, the secretary of transportation and a former Republican congressman from Illinois. He is one of six Americans working for the Republican Institute or its sister organization, the National Democratic Institute, whom Egypt has blocked from leaving as part of a politically charged criminal investigation into their activities.
Just a day before Mr. LaHood was detained temporarily, President Obama had warned Egypt’s leader, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, that this year’s American military aid hinged on satisfying new Congressional legislation requiring that Egypt’s military government take tangible steps toward democracy, said three people briefed on the conversation.
Mr. Obama referred specifically to the criminal inquiry into several democracy-building groups with foreign financing, including the Republican Institute, the people who were briefed said, and he made clear that Egypt had not fulfilled the Congressional requirements, but Field Marshal Tantawi did not seem to believe him.
So it's Tantawi's fault and not the Brotherhood's? Of course, why didn't I think of that? But the result will be the same: This could lead to a hold-up of US aid money to Egypt.
But here's the weird part. The Obama administration seems to be wanting to play good cop, bad cop over this - and to make Congress the bad cop.
Then, after the travel ban on the Americans became public on Thursday, the administration made the warning public as well. “It is the prerogative of Congress to say that our future military aid is going to be conditioned on a democratic transition,” Michael H. Posner, an assistant secretary of state responsible for human rights issues, said at a previously scheduled press conference in Cairo on Thursday.
Boy is that one rich. Didn't Hillary Clinton argue precisely the opposite six months ago? This is from the Times:
Though members of Congress have talked this year of imposing conditions on American aid to Egypt, the Obama administration had previously opposed the idea.
The White House negotiated intensely to allow the president the option of waiving the conditions, if necessary, in the name of national security. Now Hillary Rodham Clinton, the secretary of state, is required to certify that Egypt is making democratic progress — carrying out “policies to protect freedom of expression, association and religion, and due process of law” — before releasing the aid this fiscal year.
I don't see how she can certify any of those things regardless of whether these six people are released. Freedom of religion with a parliament that's dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists? You've got to be kidding.
Representative Frank R. Wolf, a Republican from Virginia who serves on the House Appropriations Committee, said the Egyptian government continued to flout American efforts and to undermine democratic rights. “This is out of control,” Mr. Wolf said on Thursday. “If the administration follows the law, there’s no way they can continue the aid.”
And in case you're wondering about the head count...
In addition to Mr. LaHood, four other employees from the Republican Institute, including two Americans, had been barred from travel. Officials of the National Democratic Institute said that six of its employees had been banned, including three Americans.
Diplomatic circles in Israel expressed criticism of the White House, which called on Friday for the Egyptian government to transfer the reigns of authority to a civilian government at the earliest possible time. "The U.S. is repeating the same mistake it made during the first revolution in Egypt, when it called on Mubarak to turn over the government." The Foreign Ministry is now operating through Israel's ambassadors in France, Germany, and Britain to pass a message that nothing should be done which shakes up the structure of government in Egypt and which could plunge it into a civil war.
It's not just Israel that thinks that the Obama administration's populistic approach to Egypt is wrong. So does former US Ambassador to Israel and peace processor Martin Indyk.
“What we’re now doing is saying to the military that if you think you’re going to maintain military power, we’re not going to support that,” said Martin S. Indyk, director of foreign policy at the Brookings Institution and the former United States ambassador to Israel. “We want you to play the role of midwife to democracy, not the role of military junta.”
But the strategy “is a high-risk one, because the ones who benefit most from it are the people who don’t necessarily have our best interests in mind — the Islamists — who might not be as wedded to the peace treaty as the military,” Mr. Indyk said. “We are essentially coming down on the side of democracy.”
The strategy risks straining Washington’s deep ties with Egypt’s military, as well as a potential backlash in Egypt if the United States, which is not popular from a long history of supporting the former president, Hosni Mubarak, is seen to be meddling. But administration officials were apparently judging that the bigger risk may be to the Egyptian public, which will need to be won over if Egypt becomes fully democratic, as the administration says it hopes.
Isn't it amazing how little the Obama administration learns from their mistakes. What could go wrong?
LATMA tribal update: Interview with General Tantawi and the deck of a Turkish warship
Just a reminder that I'm in Boston and the Sabbath does not start here for several hours. This translation went up right before the Sabbath started in Israel.
In this episode, LATMA interviews Egyptian General Tantawi, and brings you to the deck of a Turkish warship.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has walked back his threat to send gunboats to protect weapons shipments to Gaza.
Turkey and Israel took baby-steps back over the weekend from a further dramatic deterioration in ties, with Turkish officials saying Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s threats of sending gunboats to Gaza were misinterpreted – and Israel made clear it had not decided to support the Kurdish militants fighting Turkey.
According to officials quoted in Istanbul’s Today’s Zaman newspaper over the weekend, remarks Erdogan made during an interview on Al Jazeera Thursday about the gunboats were “quoted out of context.” According to the paper, in the Turkish version of the interview, Erdogan said: “At the moment, no doubt, Turkish warships are first of all liable to protect their own ships. This is the first step.
And there is humanitarian aid, which we will extend.
Our humanitarian assistance will no longer be attacked as happened in the case of the Mavi Marmara.”
A senior government official quoted by Today’s Zaman on Friday said Erdogan’s remarks did not mean Ankara was preparing to send humanitarian-aid ships to Gaza, escorted by Turkish gunboats.
“As long as Israel does not interfere in the freedom of navigation, we do not plan on sending any warships to escort humanitarian-aid ships,” the official was quoted as saying.
“The misquoted remarks suggest that we have been readying to provide a warship to escort each humanitarian aid ship. This is not the case. However, Turkey will protect its citizens’ rights in the event of any interference in international waters.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Saturday night Israel wanted to prevent a further deterioration of ties with Turkey.
“We didn’t choose this, and we will work to lower the flames, and if possible to rebuild the ties.”
Also on Saturday night, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in a Channel 2 interview that there was no Israeli proposal on the agenda to help or have contact with the PKK Kurdish militant organization.
Lieberman was referring to a story in Yediot Aharonot on Friday that this was one of the steps the government was discussing as a response to threats from Ankara.
I suspect that the Egyptians may have told the Turks that they are not very interested in having weapons reach Gaza either. After all, it was the Egyptians who also forced Erdogan to walk back the idea of visiting Gaza this week.
As to aiding the PKK, if Israel is going to do that (and it may well be already), it would be wise to keep quiet about it.
In the meantime, if you want to see a really neat x-ray version of the picture above, go here (Hat Tip: Joe's Ramblings).
Backing out of peace treaty could cost Egypt $2 billion annually
Representative Kay Granger (R-Tx) has told the Jerusalem Post that the United States will cut off all aid to Egypt if that country abrogates its peace treaty with Israel.
Washington’s $2 billion in annual aid to Egypt will be cut off if Cairo backs out of the peace treaty with Israel, Congresswoman Kay Granger – whose job as chairwoman of the US House appropriations foreign operations subcommittee means she literally writes America’s annual foreign aid bill – told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
“The United States aid to Egypt is predicated on the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, and so the relationship between Egypt and Israel is extremely important,” the eight-term Republican from Texas said in an interview.
“As an appropriator I have two concerns: One thing is the continuing relationship between Egypt and Israel, and the other thing of course is what government we will be dealing with in Egypt, and what position the Muslim Brotherhood will play in this government.”
...
Regarding how the Muslim Brotherhood’s participation in a future Egyptian government would impact the level of aid, Granger said this would depend “on how much of a position they have.”
Everyone, she said, assumed the Muslim Brotherhood would have some role and some participation in the next Egyptian government, but what will impact the level of US assistance will be the level of its governmental control.
She said all of this has been made clear to the Egyptians, and that at a meeting in March with transition head Field Marshal Muhammad Hussein Tantawi, the first thing she asked was whether the treaty with Israel would be honored.
“The answer was yes,” she said.
Since the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt, the US has provided Cairo with $2b. of aid annually, $1.3b. in military assistance and the rest in economic assistance.
Granger also has a message with Abu Bluff, with whom her delegation is scheduled to meet on Wednesday.
Granger, who along with the delegation is scheduled to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, said it has been made clear that if the PA goes through with its statehood recognition bid at the UN in September, the roughly $500m. of US aid to the PA would be suspended. She said this would include money for Palestinian security training.
Granger said the message the delegation would bring to Abbas was that there was a strong “bipartisan desire” in the US Congress to see a return to peace negotiations “in a very serious way.”
The above developments have been clearly reflected in the behavior of one of the members of the Council of Armed Forces, General Mohsen Fangary. From the beginning of the revolution on January 25th, he supported the rights of citizens to express their opinions peacefully, and has been very popular among the masses. Two weeks ago, on July 12th, he appeared on local and international media and, in a frightening and intimidating tone, read a statement issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces while waving his finger threateningly: “. . . The council will not relinquish its role during this critical period in Egypt’s history . . . Freedom of expression is guaranteed to all, but only within the boundaries of the law. Elections will be the first step, after which the constitution will be drafted. The special courts (i.e. military courts) will not be abolished. The army will not allow violent protests or the obstruction of economic activity; it will not permit the spreading of rumors and misinformation which could lead to disunity, disobedience and the dismantling of the homeland; it will give precedence to the interests of the public over those of individuals. The council will not allow anyone to seize power and will take the necessary measures against threats to the homeland.”
Millions of Egyptians listened with great concern to this threatening announcement, which made it clear to them – from no less than the thundering voice of the popular General Fangary – that the period of hugs and flowers had ended, that the army intends to stay in power for more than half a year, and perhaps for a much longer period. General Fangary, with his menacing finger and booming voice, let the audience know that what had been will no longer be and that he would not permit the Woodstock atmosphere in al-Tahrir Square to evolve into anti-army protests.
Egypt is now at the height of a hot summer; the overall atmosphere, as well as the air temperature have risen. In less than two weeks, at the beginning of August, the month of Ramadan, during which Muslims grow close to Allah, will commence....
In the next few weeks or months, the Arab Spring is liable to turn into the Egyptian Summer – hot, steamy, violent and repulsive – in which the cat will be let out of the bag and the youth of Al Tahrir Square will realize that they have replaced one group of officers with another, that instead of Mubarak, they have Tantawi or Fangary, all cut from the same cloth. If conflict erupts, Heaven forefend, it will take place between the revolutionary youth and the army, which, this time, might fire massively at them.
The army may in the interim throw protesters some bones, such as a show trial for Mubarak (if he lives), his wife and sons, and the public might even get to see them swinging from a rope in al-Tahrir Square; aside from momentary joy, however, this will not calm the street. The standing of the Israeli embassy and the peace agreement with Israel might also be impacted, because the army may employ such a stratagem to douse the flames.
In the event of major clashes between the army and the population, many Egyptians are liable to try and reach Israel via Sinai and the open border. Israel must prepare for such a scenario so that it is not caught by surprise when thousands of Egyptians arrive daily, fleeing the cruelty of their army.
As it is, it often happens that Sudanese refugees cross the border and the IDF tries to save them from being shot at by the Egyptian army. What will happen when the refugees are Egyptian? Whom will the Egyptian army try to smuggle across the border with them?
Now that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is gone, power in Egypt is being wielded by the former Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi. How much different is he than Mubarak? From this report, it seems that he's like Mubarak but less corrupt.
"He's the defense minister. He's a career officer... Anyone that serves the ministry for that long is part of the regime," Nathan Brown of George Washington University's Elliot School of International Affairs told ABC News. "I would be surprised if he kept that job that long without being loyal [to Mubarak]."
However, John Sifton, a former investigator with Human Rights Watch and author of two major reports on Egypt, said that as far as abuses, "in comparison with the civilian institutions, the military -- let's just say we have a lot more faith and optimism about what's going to happen" now that the military is in charge.
Egypt's recently appointed vice president, Omar Suleiman, made the announcement today that a military council, with Tantawi at its head, would wield power in the nation in Mubarak's place, even though several U.S. and Egyptian officials assumed Suleiman would inherit control.
Suleiman, formerly the country's intelligence chief and who oversaw the torture of an Al Qaeda suspect, would have represented little of the change the protestors were hoping for, experts said.
"Mubarak and Suleiman are the same person," said Emile Nakhleh, a former top Middle East analyst for the CIA. "They are not two different people in terms of ideology and reform."
Though they erupted in applause at the announcement Mubarak was leaving and Suleiman would not assume control, some protestors said Tantawi may not be much different.
"He's corrupt... He's not favored in the military. He's there because he stayed loyal to Honsi Mubarak," 26-year-old Abdelaziz Abdel Nabi told ABC News. "We're scared one of the military people steps up and controls us, like Mubarak did."
A leaked U.S. State Department cable posted on the website Wikileaks, which cited "academics and civilian analysts," called Tantawi "Mubarak's poodle" and said mid-level officers in the Egyptian military were infuriated by his incompetence and blind loyalty to Mubarak. Tantawi has served Egypt's military for years and fought alongside the U.S. and its allies in the 1991 Gulf War.
...
Despite being a long-time member of the regime and close ally of Mubarak's through his presidency, Brown said Tantawi has a major advantage in the simple fact that the military is, for the most part, independent of the state's despised police and intelligence forces.
"They're completely separate," Brown said. "That intelligence, police state -- this was run in kind of a rough manner [and] the police and security service were untouchable... The military's task was defense of the homeland, not maintaining internal security."
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsy sacked Egyptian army commander Hussein Tantawi and several other top generals in a bid to bring the Egyptian army under the control of the country's civilian rulers from the Muslim Brotherhood. 
