CAIRO/WASHINGTON: The United States urged Egypt’s military and government Monday to work together, a day after President Mohammad Mursi forced out the country’s longtime defense minister.
 
“It is important for the Egyptian military and civilian leadership to work closely together to address the economic and security challenges facing Egypt,” White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters.
 
“We hope that President Mursi’s announcement will serve the interests of the Egyptian people.”
 
The U.S. reaction came a day after Mursi forced Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi to retire and scrapped a recent constitutional document that gave the military legislative and other powers.
 
Tantawi was replaced by Abdul-Fattah al-Sissi, whom Carney said was known to the United States from his previous position and whose appointment it welcomed.
 
“We had expected President Mursi to coordinate with the military to name a new defense team and we will continue to work with Egypt’s civilian and military leaders to advance our many shared interests,” he said.
 
The surprise move was seen as a test of strength between the new civilian government, which is backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, and the military, which held unrivaled influence under former President Hosni Mubarak.
 
It came in the wake of a deadly attack on the Egyptian military in the Sinai that prompted an unprecedented military campaign in the lawless peninsula.
 
Carney reiterated that the U.S. was prepared to help Mursi and the military as they work to prevent future attacks.
 
“We commend General Tantawi for his service, especially during the extremely difficult transition from President Mubarak’s leadership through the elections,” he said.
 
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an Israeli government official told AFP “it is too early to say what will happen because everything is evolving in Egypt, but we are following what is happening there with great concern.”
 
Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979, and although the relationship has remained frosty, security cooperation and ties between the two countries’ armies remained solid.
 
“Military cooperation is more necessary than ever to re-establish order along the border and in Sinai. The new leadership in the Egyptian army knows that, but the question is what does the Egyptian leadership want,” the Israeli official said. “This question has not yet been answered because the new Egyptian government is refusing all contact with Israel,” he said of the Mursi administration, which has kept Israel at arm’s length since the new president took office on June 30.
 
Israeli opposition leader Shaul Mofaz, a former general, was confident Mursi would not abandon the peace treaty.
 
“A rational leader wouldn’t do that and President Mursi is a rational leader,” he told Israeli army radio, and said the U.S. could exert great influence on Mursi’s government, whose main priority is to fix the economy.
 
Mursi has denied trying to marginalize the army after he ordered Tantawi’s retirement.
 
However, the Egyptian press Monday – notably the state-run Al-Akhbar newspaper – described Mursi’s move as a “revolutionary decision,” with some saying it was aimed at ending the power of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.
 
“The Brothers officially in power,” declared the independent Al-Watan daily, referring to the Muslim Brotherhood.
 
“I never intended, through my decisions, to marginalize or be unjust toward anyone, but rather to act so that we advance toward a better future, with a new generation, long-awaited new blood,” Mursi said in a speech at Cairo’s Al-Azhar Mosque late Sunday. “I only wish them the best. I want them to devote themselves to a mission, the protection of the nation,” he said.
 
“I did not intend to embarrass institutions,” he added, saying he had “the interest of the country in mind.”
 
Thousands of Islamist supporters flooded into Cairo’s Tahrir Square Sunday to celebrate the move. “The people support the president’s decision,” they chanted.
 
Others mocked Tantawi’s departure, presented officially as a retirement. “Marshal, tell the truth, did Mursi fire you?” they said.