This Shabbat, I will join some 200 Jews from Egypt, now living in Europe, Israel and the United States, to pray in the Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue, their childhood house of worship, in Alexandria.
October 18th, the date the UN arms embargo against Iran expires, will symbolize the day Europe’s Middle East policy failed. Disastrous news, especially for Israel’s security.
It was by no means our first meeting. AJC has been traveling regularly to the Gulf for more than 25 years, and had first come to know this particular official when he held a different portfolio 20 years earlier. We had always discussed the possibility of communicating more directly and openly with Israel, and of exploring areas of potential cooperation.