http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/world/middleeast/israel-reoccupies-embassy-in-cairo.html

September 19, 2011

Israel Reoccupies Embassy in Cairo

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and ISABEL KERSHNER

CAIRO -- The Israeli Embassy here appeared to reopen Monday, ending a 10-day shutdown after a mob broke into the building and its staff was hastily withdrawn.

A newly reinforced phalanx of dozens of heavily armed soldiers and police officers stood guard outside the building on Monday evening, and lights were on inside the offices. Soldiers outside said the embassy was occupied again, and a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said four diplomats, not including the ambassador, had returned to Cairo, though some news reports said they would work in new quarters.

Officials in both governments have been eager to reopen the embassy in order to reaffirm the peace agreement that is a cornerstone of their mutual security. For Israel, some Israeli officials said, maintaining their strategic alliance with Egypt was becoming more important than ever because of the many other challenges emerging from the Arab Spring democracy movements, from the Palestinian appeal to the United Nations for statehood to the prospect of civil war in neighboring Syria.

Israeli officials said as early as the day of the evacuation that they looked forward to returning their diplomats as soon as new security arrangements were made.

"We have obviously been trying to get back to a semblance of normalcy as quickly as possible," said Paul Hirschson, a deputy spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry. "We have normal relations. We just went through a horrible experience."

Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli Defense Ministry official who plays an important role in Egyptian relations, said Monday that as the Arab spring complicated the region's dynamics, peace with Egypt was a "pillar" that had to be preserved.

"Any peace is better than any war," he told a gathering of reporters and foreign diplomats in Jerusalem. He insisted that the current leaders of Egypt were committed to the peace treaty with Israel, as were the potential candidates for future leadership. "All of them repeat it," he said.

Relations between the awkward allies entered an uneasy new phase with the ouster in February of President Hosni Mubarak, an authoritarian ruler committed enough to his country's alliance with Israel and the United States that for 30 years he brutally suppressed the Egyptian public's overwhelming anger at Israel over the issue of the Palestinians.

Tensions between the countries flared up last month, when Israeli forces chasing terrorism suspects across the Sinai border accidentally killed several Egyptian security officers. Egyptian news reports have said the number killed has risen to six. Egypt demanded a joint investigation and an apology. Israeli officials pledged a joint investigation and said they regretted the deaths but stopped short of an apology.

Ten days ago, during a Friday protest reiterating demands of the Egyptian revolution, a mob headed for the Israeli Embassy to tear down a protective wall the Egyptian government had built to defend it. But Egyptian security forces did little as the protesters stormed the building, tore down the Israeli flag and entered at least one room of the embassy, prompting the evacuation the next day.

David D. Kirkpatrick reported from Cairo, and Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem.