Here is some interesting information from Haaretz in Israel.
“The Americans and the Europeans are being pulled along by public opinion and aren’t considering their genuine interests,” one senior Israeli official said. “Even if they are critical of Mubarak they have to make their friends feel that they’re not alone. Jordan and Saudi Arabia see the reactions in the West, how everyone is abandoning Mubarak, and this will have very serious implications.”
Of course, the U.S. and the Europeans are pursuing their interests as they see them. What they are not doing is pursuing Israel’s interests. And Israel is growing alarmed in exactly the same way that this “senior Israel official” says that the Kings of Jordan and Saudi Arabia are growing alarmed.
Israel called on the United States and a number of European countries over the weekend to curb their criticism of President Hosni Mubarak to preserve stability in the region.
Jerusalem seeks to convince its allies that it is in the West’s interest to maintain the stability of the Egyptian regime. The diplomatic measures came after statements in Western capitals implying that the United States and European Union supported Mubarak’s ouster…
…Senior Israeli officials, however, said that on Saturday night the Foreign Ministry issued a directive to around a dozen key embassies in the United States, Canada, China, Russia and several European countries. The ambassadors were told to stress to their host countries the importance of Egypt’s stability. In a special cable, they were told to get this word out as soon as possible.
What’s at stake is the peace agreement that Egypt has shared with Israel since the Camp David Accords were signed in 1979. Despite losing two wars with Israel in 1967 and 1973, it was still plausible in 1979 that Egypt might threaten Israel again. It’s not plausible anymore. Israel is now clearly a nuclear-armed country, and their military is much stronger now relative to Egypt than it was in the 1970’s. Israel doesn’t really need a peace treaty with Egypt to assure its survival, but the treaty does allow it to enjoy a smaller. less mobilized military than would otherwise be the case. The main reason they want to keep the peace treaty with Egypt is for the purposes of public relations and world opinion. The status quo allows Israel to continue the fiction that they are working towards a peaceful conclusion of the Palestinian question.
The truth is that starting in 1982, the Israelis abandoned any good-will intention to return the land they occupied in the 1967 war. They did this by adopting Ariel Sharon’s deliberate plan to build permanent settlements in the conquered territory. Here’s how Sharon explained his vision.
“In my opinion what determines our fate for many generations to come are the Jewish settlements. Without underestimating the importance of war and military combat in the defense of our country, I think that in establishing settlements in the Galilee, in the Negev, in the Golan Heights, in Judea and Samaria, in the Jordan Valley and in the Gaza Strip I had the privilege as the chairman of the Settlement Affairs Ministers Committee and as the Defense Minister to decide about the establishing 230 settlements all over Israel, more than 60 of which in the Galilee. To me, the settlements are the most important thing…
…”The most important motive for settlement is historic. It was a mistake, of mine too, that for 30 years I did not stress enough the historic significance of establishing settlements in Judea and Samaria. This is indeed the birthplace of the Jewish people, and feeling your rights, which is a crucial component of security, depends first and foremost on the fact that you live in a place that’s yours. To think that only the security factor is important was a mistake. Throughout the years, when I explained why Israel should keep Judea and Samaria and other regions, I emphasized only security reasons. While it is true that there’s no alternative to the minimal depth problem, there’s always the possibility that someone would say: ‘To solve this security problem we grant you such and such aid or guarantees or means to cope.’ The security issue is of a temporary nature and a moot point, while the historic issue, which is the real issue, if far stronger than anything else. It was a mistake. Not a personal, but rather a Zionist one. The center of attraction to Israel is the Bible stories. The holidays, the seasons, the landscapes – everything is historic. Mearat Hamachpela (Tomb of the Patriarchs) – what nation in the world has such a monument, of almost 4,000 years, where the forefathers are buried, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah? We come to the United States and see Jefferson’s tomb and the Lincoln Memorial, and millions of people come and observe with excitement a thing that is 200 years old. And here we see sites that are thousands years old. This element gives power and a feeling that you have a right.”
Obviously, this violated the letter and the spirit of the Camp David Accords which formed the predicate for the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. As far as I am concerned, once it was decided under Begin to permanently settle the occupied territories, there was no real reason for Egypt to honor their peace treaty. I don’t mean by that they should go to war with Israel, but neither should they go on pretending that Israel has honored their end of the deal.
Without Mubarak, there is no guarantee that an Egyptian government will continue on with the pretense that Israel is on path to creating an independent Palestine. That has not been their intention since at least the time that Sharon was given carte blanche to treat the occupied territories as Israel’s property.
And, the important thing about this? It makes people incredibly angry and they blame the United States and our allies for letting it go on…and on…and on.
That will continue to be true with or without Mubarak. And there has to be a limit to how much pain America is willing to suffer for being a party to this injustice. If Israel doesn’t wake up in a major way, and soon, they may discover that are as friendless as Hosni Mubarak is today.
