It only came to light some time after the event that the newspaper Al-Ahram, which is published in Cairo and heavily influenced by the government, doctored one of the photographs taken at the Middle East summit meeting which began in early September in Washington D.C.

In the original photograph President Barack Obama is seen walking at the front, with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, behind him to the left and right respectively. They are followed on the right by the king of Jordan, while to the left and somewhat behind the group is Hosni Mubarack, the Egyptian president. As this arrangement was not to the liking of the daily paper they tampered with the photograph and positioned the Egyptian politician at the front of the group.  

The original photograph

One of the possible reasons for the deception was that the peace talks, which were resumed after two years, promise little chance of success yet again, since Israel is unwilling to dismantle the Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, which means the borders of a future Palestinian state cannot be drawn up.

At this summit meeting the Israeli foreign minister offered an exchange of territory, i.e. the Palestinians would receive land on Israeli territory that has not yet been built upon in exchange for keeping the settlements. By doctoring the photograph the daily paper tried to suggest that despite the possible failure of the talks the president of their country is still an authoritative political player.

The doctored version