Turks cast leery eye on Israel

[bemildred]

Animosity between Arab regimes and Iran after the 1979 Islamic revolution had long acted as a buffer for Israel, and its security apparatus rested comfortably in intimate relations with autocratic leaders forged by the signing of the peace treaty with Egypt in the same tumultuous year. Three decades of confidence have now been shattered in the revolutionary wave sweeping the Middle East.

Iran and its growing economic, political and military capabilities once registered the only serious threat on the Israeli radar. The peace treaty allowed it to discount threats from Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, even as these could create occasional trouble and embarrassment for the Jewish state. But with the toppling of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak last month, Israel lost the support of its most powerful Arab partner. The prospect of an unfriendly, if not downright hostile, government in Cairo means that Israeli policymakers are looking to their neighbors with increasing anxiety and discomfort.

Fawaz A Gerges, professor at the London School of Economics, assessed the implications of the Arab revolution for Israel in an article published on the BBC News website:

Regionally, Israel is the biggest loser. It has put all its eggs into the basket of Arab dictators and autocrats, like Egypt's deposed Hosni Mubarak. Israel fought tooth and nail to support Mr Mubarak, who played a key role in tightening the siege of Gaza and the noose around Hamas's neck. Time and again, the Israeli political class has proven to be its own worst enemy.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MC16Ak01.html

[oberliner]

1. Damned if you do

Who were the non-dictators and autocrats in the region that Israel was supposed to try to make peace with?

[kayecy]

2. There was, perhaps, an alternative......

There was an alternative........Just think what might have happened if Israel had openly supported the aspirations of the Arab street against their dictator masters.....Either the dictators and the street would have become allies (The enemy of my enemy must be my friend)and joined forces in rejecting Israel or perhaps.......Well, the rest is speculation.

[oberliner]

3. What "aspirations of the Arab street against their dictator masters" are you referring to?

In Egypt, for instance, how did this manifest itself over the past few decades? What do you think Israel ought to have done in that regard?