ISRAELI REACTION:JERUSALEM HAS welcomed the statement from Egypt's military leaders stressing that the 1979 peace treaty will be maintained, but Israeli leaders remain jittery over what the future holds in the post-Mubarak era.
Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu told ministers at yesterday’s cabinet meeting that the peace agreement with Egypt had stood for many years.
“During this period, all Egyptian governments have upheld and advanced it, and we believe that it is the cornerstone of peace and stability, not only between the two countries but in the entire Middle East as well,” he said.
Foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel was not interested “in Egypt’s internal affairs”, adding that the only thing Israel wanted was that “regional stability be preserved and the peace treaty respected”.
The assessment among top foreign ministry officials was that there was no danger to the treaty in the immediate and medium term because Egypt would be applying all of its energy to internal reforms.
The first top-level contact between Israel and the new Egyptian leadership came in a phone call on Saturday between Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak and his Egyptian counterpart Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, the head of Egypt’s ruling military council.
Mr Barak noted they had faced each other in battle in the Sinai during the 1973 Yom Kippur Arab-Israeli war, and he spoke about the obligation of both parties to prevent a repetition of that type of bloodshed. Mr Barak expressed confidence that Mr Tantawi would have the ability to preserve stability and continuity, while also introducing reforms.
Top US military officer Adm Mike Mullen arrived in Israel yesterday. Ahead of his talks with Israeli leaders, Capt John Kirby, an aide to the admiral, said the aim was to allay Israeli fears.
“At this very critical time in the Middle East, we want to assure our Israeli partners that our commitment to them and to the military relationship that we have enjoyed with them, remains strong.” Israeli commentators wrote that Israel is now facing a new and uncertain reality.
Nahum Barnea, in Yediot Aharonot, wrote that the Israeli government is quickly adjusting to the day after Mubarak.
“The transition was from panic to resignation, from doomsday prophecies to a sober effort to get along with things as they actually are. The Egyptian army is currently perceived as an anchor of stability, continuity and, ironically enough, peace as well. As far as Israel is concerned, Gen Tantawi, the Egyptian defence minister, is the new Mubarak.”
Military analyst Yoav Limor, writing in Yisrael Hayom, said the army was probably already talking about the need to increase the budget and a troop redeployment.
“It is not out of the question that even before that, that there will be a major change in intelligence, which will be told to again collect information on our southern neighbour which has become a risk and threatens to become a threat.”