The Israelis sound a little hysterical at the prospects in Egypt, but they need not fear . .. unless their agents have been supporting the thugs being used to keep Mubarak in power. Their commitment to a power centered Realpolitik may have dictated such a move, together with their expected work on the political front to mobilize American supporters to demand that our government, directly or indirectly, support Mubarak.
The swiftness of events may have caught Israel off guard but I am sure they are “responding”and a significant part of that response is a US political campaign in support of Mubarak by manipulating the hot buttons of stability, fear of Islam, chaos in oil land, etc and where their leverage over our congress is legendary.
(Actually, the Newsmax article itself is an example of a typical Israeli “public relations” campaign)
But, events on the ground, motivated by a powerful national will and a historic momentum against dictatorships in general, may well work against their strategies. A British diplomat once asked Gandhi why he was so sure that Britain would one day “just leave” India. Gandhi confidently replied that “When 300 million people tell you you are not wanted it will be impossible for you to stay.”
Mubarak seems to be in a similar position. The past thirty years have caught up with him . . . . and us, and Israel.
If Mubarak does prevail, for the moment, Israel should seize that moment to make a durable peace with the Palestinians and get on the right side of history. In the meantime, our “stated” government policy in Egypt seems best, to yield to the natural forces of history and work for a peaceful transition to a more open and democratic society. If the Egyptian people move in that direction, we should work with them.
