The Israeli people, some 20 percent of which are Arab, want the Egyptian people's good and will respect any decision regarding Egypt's internal regime. That is your decision and we have no intention of interfering with your sovereign right to shape it. We hope that as peace was preserved in the past 30 years, the historic achievements it entails will be preserved in the future as well.
If only. Actually these are the words of Shlomo Avineri, proposing the statement that Netanyahu should make.
Netanyahu's statements over the last week have been puzzling and seem to reflect an significant misjudgment about the scope of events. His encouragement of Western governments to tone down criticism of Mubarak while vast portions of the Arab world - Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Jordan - are rocked by unprecedented anti-totalitarian protests will not be remembered fondly. My guess is that we will see some backpedaling on that, but it is possible that Israel's failure to seize the moment is what will be remembered through the Arab world.
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