During a recent visit to Lebanon, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit referred to Israel as 'an enemy' in statements to the press. He told reporters that he would not convey messages from a foe to a fraternal country such as Lebanon, affirming that Egypt would support Syria and Lebanon in case of an Israeli assault on either of the two Arab countries. News reports say that the Israeli government has lodged an official objection with its Egyptian counterpart asking for an explanation for Abul Gheit's definition. According to foreign ministry sources, the contextual reference concerns the hypothetical state of war which Abul Gheit was speaking of especially given that Israel is in a state of actual hostility with Lebanon. However, assuming that Abul Gheit deliberately used the word, what can we say of the Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who verbally offended Egypt on several occasions by threatening to destroy the High Dam in Aswan? Despite the peace treaty signed between Egypt and Israel in l979, its effects have not surpassed official respect of such a binding treaty. In other words, Israeli atrocities in Gaza, tension that rises every now and then on the Egyptian-Israeli borders, Israel's attitude towards the peace process in general and playing its hand in the Nile Basin countries against Egyptian interests have created a distance between the two countries despite the peace treaty. The treaty has stopped the two countries from coming into war, but at the popular level Israel is still considered a 'foe' by virtue of its malpractices, disrespect for Islamic holy places in occupied Jerusalem and for several other reasons. Even if Abul Gheit's reference were a mere slip of the tongue, it surely reflects the feeling of every Muslim and Arab individual until Israel acts otherwise.