WIKILEAKS:THE LATEST documents released by WikiLeaks reveal that Omar Suleiman, who was appointed Egyptian vice-president last month, was Israel's favoured candidate to replace president Hosni Mubarak.
Leaked cables from US embassies in Tel Aviv and Cairo show the close co-operation between Mr Suleiman and Israeli officials, as well as intense interest in Jerusalem and Washington over who would replace the ageing Egyptian president.
Mr Suleiman has been a regular visitor to Israel and periodically hosts Israeli officials in Cairo. As Egyptian intelligence chief, he was Israel’s point man on contacts concerning developments in both the West Bank and Gaza.
The publication of the close nature of the ties will likely embarrass the new vice-president, who this week began talks with Egyptian opposition groups.
The cables, published by the Daily Telegraph, reveal that David Hacham, a senior Israeli defence ministry official, told the American embassy in Tel Aviv that a delegation led by defence minister Ehud Barak in 2008 was "shocked" by Mr Mubarak's "aged appearance and slurred speech", but was impressed by Mr Suleiman.
The cable stated a hotline set up between the Israeli defence ministry and the Egyptian general intelligence service, headed by Mr Suleiman, was in daily use.
American diplomats in Tel Aviv reported the Israeli assessment that in the event of Mr Mubarak’s death or incapacitation, Mr Suleiman was likely to serve “at least as interim president”.
The Tel-Aviv-based diplomats added: “We defer to Embassy Cairo for analysis of Egyptian succession scenarios, but there is no question that Israel is most comfortable with the prospect of Omar Suleiman.”
Another cable showed Mr Suleiman supported Israel reinvading the southern strip of Gaza, adjacent to the Egyptian border, in order to stop Hamas arms smuggling. The leaks suggest Mr Suleiman wanted Hamas “isolated”, and thought Gaza should “go hungry but not starve”.
A cable from November 2007 quoted Yuval Diskin, the head of the Israel security agency, warning that Egypt’s control in the Sinai peninsula was weakening and that Cairo sought to avoid conflict with local Bedouin tribes.