The Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, has criticized the government's response to an Israeli border raid last week. An Israeli helicopter on Thursday crossed the Egyptian border allegedly in search of terrorists, but the raid led to the deaths of six Egyptian officers. The assault ignited protests in front of the Israeli Embassy in Cairo by angry Egyptians who demanded the dismissal of the Israeli ambasador and the abrogation of the 32-year-old peace treaty with Israel. "The official response to the Israeli border assault is below the expectations of the Egyptian people," the party said in a statement on Tuesday. It said Egypt's policies should reflect the spirit of the 25 January revolution, which it said represented a new page in the country's history. The statement also empathized with people's anger over the incident and emphasized that the people will be the main reference for decision-making in the future. On Tuesday, the Muslim Brotherhood lambasted Israel for declining to apologize for the attack. Brotherhood spokesperson Mahmoud Ghazlan demanded the removal of the Israeli ambassador, withdrawal of the Egyptian ambassador from Tel Aviv, halt of natural gas export to Israel, and cancellation of the Qualified Industrial Zones agreement between the countries. Translated from the Arabic Edition
