Israel Matzav

Soros blames Israel for doubts on Egypt

In George Soros' world, everything will by hunky dory in Egypt if only the US and other countries accept the Muslim Brotherhood and its use of Mohamed ElBaradei as a stooge. And guess which evil empire is trying to stop that from happening....

Some have articulated fears of adverse consequences of free elections, suggesting that the Egyptian military may seek to falsify the results; that Israel may be adamantly opposed to a regime change; that the domino effect of extremist politics spreading to other countries must be avoided; and that the supply of oil from the region could be disrupted. These notions constitute the old conventional wisdom about the Middle East - and need to be changed, lest Washington incorrectly put up resistance to or hesitate in supporting transition in Egypt.

That would be regrettable. President Obama personally and the United States as a country have much to gain by moving out in front and siding with the public demand for dignity and democracy. This would help rebuild America's leadership and remove a lingering structural weakness in our alliances that comes from being associated with unpopular and repressive regimes. [I wonder if Soros had Israel in mind there too. CiJ] Most important, doing so would open the way to peaceful progress in the region. The Muslim Brotherhood's cooperation with Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel laureate who is seeking to run for president, is a hopeful sign that it intends to play a constructive role in a democratic political system. As regards contagion, it is more likely to endanger the enemies of the United States - Syria and Iran - than our allies, provided that they are willing to move out ahead of the avalanche.

The main stumbling block is Israel. In reality, Israel has as much to gain from the spread of democracy in the Middle East as the United States has. But Israel is unlikely to recognize its own best interests because the change is too sudden and carries too many risks [and so 'we' have to decide what's in Israel's best interests - just like we would do with our children. CiJ]. And some U.S. supporters of Israel are more rigid and ideological than Israelis themselves [Yeah.... They're called "right-wing bloggers." CiJ]. Fortunately, Obama is not beholden to the religious right, which has carried on a veritable vendetta against him [I assume he means the Jewish religious right - i.e. Orthodox Jews. But he could mean Christian Zionists too. CiJ]. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is no longer monolithic or the sole representative of the Jewish community [I wonder what he meant by that. CiJ]. The main danger is that the Obama administration will not adjust its policies quickly enough to the suddenly changed reality.

Money may not buy you everything, but apparently it buys you an op-ed column space in the Washington Post. Priceless.

In the end, the US will act in what it sees as its own interests in Egypt. That should be obvious to anyone who has seen how Israel is alone in worrying for the last week about what will come after Mubarak.

Labels: Barack Obama, George Soros, Hosni Mubarak, Mohamed ElBaradei

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:19 PM