"Netanyahu's embrace of Mubarak did not help the despised man: Did it put Egypt's relation with Israel on the revolution's agenda?

"... Netanyahu's sources are as clueless as everyone else. On the day the demonstrations began, the head of Israeli Military Intelligence, Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, told a Knesset committee that the Egyptian regime was stable. Neither he nor the prime minister has a better idea today of what will happen. Given that uncertainty, Israelis have reasons to be nervous. But for exactly the same reasons, Netanyahu's comments are utterly irresponsible.

Peace with Egypt is fundamental to Israeli security. And as the ex-director of Israel's Foreign Ministry, Alon Liel, points out, the 1979 peace agreement with Egypt initiated a steady improvement in Israel's relations with the rest of the Muslim world. The thaw lasted until 2000, when the Israeli-Palestinian peace process collapsed and a new ice age began. Israel's alliance with Turkey has been in shreds since the Israeli invasion of Gaza in 2009, Liel notes. Netanyahu's refusal to pursue peace seriously with the Palestinians has done similar damage to relations with Jordan. The only Arab leader happy to meet Netanyahu is -- or rather, was -- Mubarak. Mubarak's comfortable relation with Israel flew in the face of Egyptian popular opinion, which "is closer to the Middle Eastern average than to Mubarak's policies," Liel says................Yet emotions sometimes do overcome rational interests. That's why Netanyahu voices his fear -- but his comments could themselves spur emotional rather than rational responses. An Israeli embrace of Mubarak won't (Did Not) help the despised president. But it could put Egypt's relation with Israel on the revolution's agenda. By describing Egypt to Western leaders and diplomats as a place unready for democracy, Netanyahu reinforces the image of Israel as a country of contemptuous Westerners, and he identifies aspirations for democracy with hostility toward Israel. By describing Islamicists as the chief danger, Netanyahu only risks increasing their popularity. In short, by voicing his fears, the prime minister increases the chances that they will be realized...."