By Oren Kessler, contributor
Egypt last week marked Revolution Day, the day commemorating the 1952 Free Officers' revolt that toppled the playboy King Farouk. Next door in Israel, the Egyptian embassy threw a party.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife attended, as did its president. Flags of both nations flew; anthems of both were sung. Balloons in the Egyptian colors were strewn over the embassy pool, and a woman dressed like Cleopatra delivered remarks. It was the first time in six years that Egypt's embassy in Tel Aviv publicly marked the event.
It was an extraordinary gesture, and these are extraordinary times in the relationship between two of Washington's keystone allies in the Eastern Mediterranean. Two weeks prior, Sameh Shoukry became the first Egyptian foreign minister in nine years to visit Israel — breaking years of unwritten government protocol that ties with the Jewish state would be handled by the intelligence services.
