Concerns about the Muslim Brotherhood: Israel Fears Regime Change in Egypt
Israel is watching developments in Egypt with concern. The government is standing by autocratic Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, out of fear that the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood could take power and start supplying arms to Hamas.
Israel is usually a country where politicians have an opinion on any topic, and where they are more than happy to make it public. But in recent days, Israel’s leadership has been unusually silent on a certain question. No one, it seems, is willing to make an official comment on the ongoing unrest in Egypt, where protesters have been holding anti-government rallies. It’s not because nobody in Israel is interested in the riots in the country’s southern neighbor — quite the contrary, Israeli news channels have been reporting continuously on recent events in the Arab world, from Tunisia to Lebanon.
Radio, television and newspapers have been discussing with fascination and even excitement the courage of the demonstrators in the streets of Cairo. They give the impression that they are not only celebrating the historic spectacle, but that they actually want to see democracy in Egypt.
But the Israeli government is keeping quiet. “We are closely monitoring the events, but we do not interfere in the internal affairs of a neighboring state,” was the curt answer from the Israeli Foreign Ministry to requests for comments.