The removal of the ambassador, and Israel’s initial silence in response, marks a level of antagonism not seen since Egypt and Israel signed the historic Camp David accords three decades ago in the hopes of bringing peace to the broader Middle East.

The diplomatic standoff is the sharpest signal yet that the revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak is transforming the three decade-old alliance between Egypt and Israel that has been the cornerstone of the regional political order. Removing Mr. Mubarak’s authoritarian government has stripped away a bulwark of Israel’s position in the region, unleashing the Egyptian public’s pent-up anger at Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians at a time when a transitional government is scrambling to maintain its own legitimacy in the streets…

Speaking on condition of anonymity, Israeli officials portrayed the Egyptian reaction as unfair, noting that they believe the militants who carried out the attacks had come across the Egyptian border out of a security vacuum in the Egyptian Sinai. Israeli officials asserted Saturday that some of the attackers had worn Egyptian uniforms.