While the world persists in looking for signs of pragmatism in the Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsy is quietly taking over all the power bases in the country.

Having gotten rid of the army old guard, he replaced them with his own men – officers belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood or known sympathizers. Then he turned his attention to the media, replacing 50 editors working for the government’s extensive and influential press empire – including Al- Ahram, Al-Akhbar, Al-Gomhuria. He is now busy appointing new governors to the 27 regions of the country.

Hosni Mubarak used to choose retired generals he could depend on for these sensitive posts; Morsy is hand picking party faithful. At the same time upper echelons in government ministries and economic and cultural organizations are methodically being replaced. The Muslim Brotherhood is fast assuming total control. For many observers, the deployment of army units is Sinai is more about proclaiming Egyptian sovereignty in the face of Israel than actually fighting Islamic terrorism.

Drafting the new constitution is their next objective. Brothers and Salafis make up an absolute majority in the Constituent Assembly. Liberal and secular forces are boycotting its sessions, and the Supreme Constitutional Court is examining a request to have it dissolved since it does not conform to the constitution because of its overly Islamic composition; a decision is expected in September.

The assembly, however, is not waiting. According to various leaks it is putting the final touch to a constitution where all laws have to conform to the Shari’a and special committees will supervise the media and forbid any criticism of Islam and of the Prophet. In the wings is the creation of a Committee of Islamic Sages supervising the law-making process and in effect voiding of substance the parliament elected by the people, though it is not clear yet if, when and how it will work. What is clear is that a parliament made of flesh and blood individuals is against the very nature of the Shari’a, where all laws are based on the Koran and the hadiths. This is a far cry from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Morsy has been careful to speak about creating “a civil society”; it is now obvious that what he meant was a society not ruled by the army, and not a secular society. Indeed he had promised to appoint a woman and a Copt as vice presidents, but chose Mohamed Maki, a Sunni known for his sympathy for the Brotherhood and incidentally or not the brother of the new minister of justice, Prof. Ahmed Maki, known for his independent stands and opposition to Mubarak, but who had carefully concealed his support for the Brothers.

It is worth stressing that the Brotherhood is still operating under conditions of utmost secrecy, as it had been doing during the decades of persecution. How it is getting its funds, who are its members and how they are recruited is not known, nor is its decision-taking process. The movement has no legal existence since Gamal Abdel Nasser officially disbanded it in 1954.

That state of affairs was not changed while the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces ruled the country, since apparently the movement did not apply for recognition, fearing perhaps it would have to reveal some of its secrets. Now that it has created its own political party, that the members of that party make up nearly 50 percent of the parliament and that one of their own has been elected president, can the movement remain in the shadows?

Morsy did announce that he was resigning from the Brotherhood, but there is no doubt that he will remain true to the tenets and the commands of its leaders. This is making people increasingly uneasy. They had other expectations of the revolution.

Opposition to an Islamic regime is growing, though it is far from being united. The three small liberal parties that had had very little success in the parliamentary elections have now set up a new front, The Third Way, to fight the Brotherhood’s takeover. Hamdeen Sabahi, leader of the nationalistic Karama (Dignity) Party, who had garnered 18% of the votes in the first round of the presidential election, has launched “The Popular Current” promoting the old Nasserist pan-Arab ideology.

Some of the nongovernmental media are vocal in their criticism of Morsy, though it can be costly: Private television station Al- Pharaein – “the Pharaohs” – was shut down after it called to get rid of Morsy; its owner, Tawfik Okasha, well known for his hostility to the Brothers (and to Israel) and who called for a massive demonstration this Friday, was put under house arrest, as was the editor of the daily Al-Dostour that had criticized the president. The editors of two other dailies – Al-Fajer and Saut el-Umma – were questioned. Other papers such as Al-Akhbar stopped publishing opinion pieces from their regular collaborators known for their opposition to the Brothers; well-known publicists left their page blank in a gesture of solidarity for their colleagues.

Morsy knows that his takeover will strengthen the opposition. He has not forgotten that he barely mustered 25% of the votes in the first round of the presidential election – down from the nearly 50% who voted for his party’s candidates in the parliamentary elections. He also knows that the people are no longer afraid to take to the streets to protest – and that it is now said that a new dictatorship is replacing the old – the only difference being that the new ruler has a beard….

However, for now he is devoting all his energy to his fight with the judiciary, long known for its independent stands. The Supreme Constitutional Court is being asked to rule the Brotherhood Movement illegal, and therefore to proclaim that the Liberty and Justice party it created – and which won 50% of the seats in the parliament – is illegal as well, and therefore to invalidate the election of Morsy, candidate of a movement and a party that are both illegal. Morsy sent his new justice minister to browbeat the court, but the judges refused to back down. The president is now working to limit the prerogatives of the court in the new constitution and will start “retiring” senior justices appointed by Mubarak.

Friday’s demonstration will be the first real test for the Brotherhood. It is taking no chances and security forces will be deployed around its institutions throughout the country. A cleric at Al-Azhar issued a fatwa calling for the killing of whoever protests against the rule of the Brotherhood; the resulting uproar was such that he was disavowed by some of the leaders of the movement. However, whatever happens Friday will not deter them from their goal – a thoroughly Islamist Egypt.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas denied the Jewish connection to Jerusalem on Tuesday, the same day he spoke by phone with both Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s envoy Yitzhak Molcho.

Abbas issued a statement Tuesday, marking the 43rd anniversary of an attempt by deranged Australian Christian Denis Michael Rohan to set fire to al-Aksa mosque, saying that Jerusalem’s Arab and Islamic identity was a Palestinian red line.

Highlighting the necessity of the protection of Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy sites, Abbas said “the fire, set by a criminal under the eyes of the Israeli Occupation Authorities, was the first [attack] in a series aiming to demolish al- Aksa mosque and build the alleged Temple in order to uproot its citizens, Judaize it and eternalize its occupation.”

The statement read that all Israeli excavation work in Jerusalem, and tunnels underneath the mosque, “will not undermine the fact that the city will forever be Arabic, Islamic and Christian.”

Abbas’ statement warned against what it called “the dangers surrounding Jerusalem and its al-Aksa mosque by the Israeli government and municipality which aims to steal more lands and enact unfair legislations against the Palestinian institutions.”

The statement concluded “that there will be no peace or stability before our beloved city and eternal capital is liberated from occupation and settlement.”

Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev said in response that he hoped the Palestinian leadership was not denying the Jewish connection to Jerusalem, which goes back 3,000 years. “Ignoring that connection is to ignore reality,” he said, and will do nothing to advance peace and reconciliation Regev said he was “disappointed” to hear the mainstream Palestinian leadership “echo outrageous conspiracy theories concerning the Temple Mount, conspiracy theories that are the usual domain of extremist elements.” He added that only under Israeli control has Jerusalem enjoyed a period of unparalleled growth and development, under which the religious rights of all, and the holy sites, were protected.

“This is in stark contrast to the reality before 1967,” Regev said.

The tone of Abbas’ statement dispelled the notion that a series of phone calls recently might lead to a slight change in atmosphere.

Barak phoned Abbas on Tuesday to send well-wishes on the occasion of Id al-Fitr.

Barak’s call followed a similar call Netanyahu made to Abbas Saturday night, at the onset of the festival. With no negotiations currently taking place between Israel and the PA, such calls at the top leadership level are infrequent.

A statement released by Barak said the two men discussed the situation in the region and ways to renew the diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians. A source in Abbas’s office in Ramallah confirmed the conversation took place and that the two talked about the diplomatic process, but said that it was unlikely the gesture would have any political results in the near future.

The Jerusalem Post has learned that Molcho phoned Abbas, as well as Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Tuesday, to update them on the health status of the six Palestinians hurt in a fire bomb attack on a taxi near Bat Ayin on Thursday.

Netanyahu spoke about the matter with Abbas when he called him Saturday, and his office has on three different occasions issued statements since then relating to the issue. The first statement contained Netanyahu’s condemnation, the second was a letter he wrote to Abbas not only condemning the incident, but also promising all efforts would be made to apprehend those responsible, and the third was a statement to the effect that the issue had been brought up again during the Saturday night phone call.

There are a number of reasons Netanyahu has reached out so publicly to the Palestinian leadership on this issue, a government official said. First, he explained, this behavior is abhorrent, unjustifiable and must be stamped out.

Second, because those responsible are giving Israel, Zionism and the settlement enterprise a bad name. Third, out of concern that this violence plays into the hands of the most anti-Israel narrative and gives “ammunition to Israel’s enemies.” Fourth, because there is close security coordination between Israel and the PA, and Israel has given a commitment to stamp out this type of activity.

And finally, out of concern that Palestinian extremists could use these acts as a trigger for Palestinian violence.

In a related development, UN Middle East envoy Robert Serry warned Monday evening that the PA was losing legitimacy in the absence of any diplomatic process.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the international model UN event at the College of Management Academic Studies in Rishon Lezion, Serry said that the Israeli- Palestinian peace process is not “all about the money.”

“Some think that a strong Palestinian economy will be enough to maintain stability in the West Bank, something that is both a Palestinian and an Israeli interest,” he said.

“Yet economic growth alone will not assure a sustainable future. This is because the Palestinian Authority is quickly, in my view, losing its legitimacy in the eye of the public, if it is not able to bring also the political goal forwards – the creation of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace and security.”

Serry said that recent events in the region have shown that “no political institution can survive if it rests only on economics and lacks political legitimacy.”

These sentiments, which Serry has articulated numerous times in the past, are at odds with some senior officials in Jerusalem, including Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, who believe that setting a strong Palestinian economic base can go a long way toward eventually solving the outstanding problems.

Indeed, at a gathering of European foreign ministers in December, many of whom share Serry’s view, Liberman said that propping up the middle class was a key to eventually finding a solution.

“My suggestion is to bypass highly disputed political issues, which cannot be resolved in the present,” he said. “Once economic growth is allowed to take root and enable the formation of a strong middle class, I have no doubt that the difficult political issues, which seem irresolvable today, will lend themselves to resolution.”

The Popular Resistance Committees terrorist organization threatened Israel on Tuesday, warning it that any harm to the Al-Aqsa mosque would “open the gates of hell against the Zionist enemy.”

In a statement the organization issued, it stressed its commitment to protecting the dignity of the mosque, which it claimed is being “contaminated by the Zionists”, through the masses of the Islamic nation which has started waking up and meeting its religious commitment towards “Palestine” and towards the Al-Aqsa mosque.

The statement further noted that the Israeli violation of Islamic holy places in Jerusalem was made possible because Israel saw the helplessness of the Muslims for decades, and now the time has come to mobilize the Islamic nation to action and “save” the Al-Aqsa mosque from the “Zionist impurity.”

Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, the former mufti of Jerusalem, said in this regard that the area of the Al-Aqsa mosque, including the Al-Buraq Wall (the Arabic term for the Western Wall) belongs only to Muslims, and Jews have no right to it.

Sabri expressed his strong opposition to an agreement that would allow Jews to pray on the Temple Mount, in an arrangement similar to the one that exists in the Cave of the Patriarchs. There recently have been growing calls to create a partition between two sections of the Temple Mount, one for Jewish use and the other for Muslims.

The Arab statements make no mention of the fact that the Waqf, which was left in charge of the Temple Mount following Jerusalem’s reunification in 1967, has removed every sign of ancient Jewish presence at the Jewish holy site. The decision to leave the Temple Mount in the hands of the Waqf was made by then-Defense Minister Moshe Dayan.

At the entrance to the Temple Mount, a Waqf sign says, “The Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard and everything in it is Islamic property”.

Police, in an attempt to appease the Waqf, discriminate against Jews. They limit the number of Jewish worshippers allowed on the Temple Mount at one time in order to prevent conflict with Muslim worshippers. They often close the Mount to Jews in response to Muslim riots – despite evidence that Muslim riots have been planned in advance for the specific purpose of forcing Jews out.

In July, the Arab League released a statement warning Israel to stay away from the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The statement warned the “occupation authorities” against interfering with the mosque. “The city of Al-Quds [Jerusalem] and at its head the Al-Aqsa Mosque, is a red line that must not be crossed, and any attack on it will definitely endanger the safety and stability of the entire region,” it stated.