Israel is incapable of understanding the reservations that the United States has when confronting the ferocious civil war in Egypt. This is glaringly obvious, and can be seen in a series of disdainful questions asked by the Israeli media: “What’s the matter with those self-righteous Americans?” or “How can the administration even consider imposing sanctions against the acting regime in Egypt, which is doing all the dirty work for it?” Questions such as these came up again and again in TV studios and newspapers alike.

“What does [President Barack] Obama even know about the Middle East? How can the US not cheer on the Egyptian army, which is taking resolute action against a movement that operates a terrorist branch that gave rise to Osama bin Laden and his supporters?” Yes, this was said by news commentators, but the question marks were inserted into the discussion by senior figures in the political and security establishment. They could not say publicly what they really felt about how the Obama administration’s stance would impact events in Egypt and Israel’s security situation.

At the same time, a widespread information campaign was launched, using the American media to present the “sane” and highly experienced Israeli approach to an administration that is struggling to make up its mind. News of this Israeli campaign, whether real or not, was leaked by unknown Israeli sources to The New York Times. According to the report, Israel intends to launch an information campaign in Washington, Brussels, Berlin, Paris, London and other Western capitals. During the campaign, ambassadors and senior Israeli diplomats would meet with the foreign ministers of the target countries to claim that the Egyptian army offers the only hope of preventing further chaos in Egypt, and that chaos in Egypt would impact the entire Middle East.

According to a report in the American newspaper, Israel promised the new regime in Cairo that it would use all its power and influence to prevent any cuts to the aid that the Egyptians receive from the United States. You call that a cold peace? To me it looks more like the start of a beautiful friendship.