Afterward, at the wedding dinner, we were seated with several of the Egyptian relatives; the last couple to join our table, Yossi and Esther, are Jewish, with roots in Israel.

In Egypt, it is widely believed that the wedding is a ploy to make sure the younger Mubarak succeeds his father, who has ruled Egypt with an iron fist since 1981.

Having the first wedding celebration thought to be held in modern times at the base of the Great Pyramids in Egypt, in front of the Sphinx, officiated by the world's foremost Egyptologist, Jain's ...