The US, it may be recalled, gave the Hosni Mubarak regime in Egypt $1.3 billion annually to keep peace with Israel. The Egyptian public has been bitterly opposed to the agreement, as part of which Hosni Mubarak co-operated with Israel in its siege of Gaza and allowed gas supplies to Israel. There have been vociferous demands to open the border with Gaza while the gas pipeline to Israel has repeatedly come under attack.
However, in his very first speech as president-elect Morsi tried to indirectly assure Washington that he would abide by the Egypt-Israel peace deal, saying his government would honour all of the country's international agreements. But it is plain from Scaf's various anti-democracy measures that the status quo forces are not ready to take any risks. Only time will tell what lies ahead for Egypt's struggle for democracy. But one thing is clear: the country's slow motion transition to democracy is about to enter a new phase.
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