Israel Supports Mubarak

The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported that the Israeli Prime Minister asked the United States and several European countries in classified diplomatic messages to support Egyptian President Mubarak’s Egyptian government.

The newspaper quoted several Israeli politicians as saying it would be in the best interests of the West, as well as the entire Middle East region, to maintain the stability of the Egyptian regime. In a document published last weekend, they said that any public criticism of President Hosni Mubarak must be stopped.

The Ha’aretz article quoted a high-ranking Israeli official who said that the Americans and Europeans were concerned more about public opinion than their own best interests, adding that even if they expressed criticism of Mubarak they had to let their allies know they would not be abandoned. Jordan and Saudi Arabia see an inclination in the West to just let Mubarak fall, but warn that doing so would have serious repercussions.

The newspaper also said that the Israeli foreign ministry sent notices to about a dozen of its embassies in the United States, Canada, China and several European countries, advising their diplomats to continuously impress the “relevance of Egyptian stability” on their local contacts.

When asked about this, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Netanyahu would neither confirm nor deny the information. The Israeli Foreign Ministry was not available for comment.

The Israeli government has thus far made no comment on the wave of protest in Egypt. Netanyahu has called on his ministers to refrain from making public comments on the situation.

On Sunday, Netanyahu himself said he intends to maintain peace between Israel and Egypt. “The peace between Israel and Egypt has lasted for more than three decades, and our objective is to ensure that these relations will continue to exist,” Netanyahu told his cabinet, adding, “We are following with vigilance the events in Egypt and in our region … at this time we must show responsibility and restraint and maximum consideration.”

Israeli President Shimon Peres also warned that the Egyptian government was in danger of being taken over by radical Islamists. Speaking on an Israeli military broadcast, Peres said that control by religious fanatics would be no better than the lack of democracy under President Hosni Mubarak.

“We have always had and will have great respect for President Mubarak,” Peres said in his first public comment on the Egyptian unrest. “Not everything he did was right, but he did do one thing for which all of us are thankful. He was the peacekeeper of the Middle East.”

In 1979, Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel.

Mubarak has often stepped in as a mediator in the Middle East. Israel fears that if there is regime change in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood could come to power. The anti-Israeli Hamas government in Gaza is an offshoot of that organization.