Israel Matzav

Netanyahu says 'I told you so'

In a Sunday speech to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Prime Minister Netanyahu gave himself a pat on the back for being right about the Egyptian revolution (Hat Tip: Jack W via Weasel Zippers).

“A year ago or so, when this [Egyptian] revolution began, people said you’re not optimistic enough,” Netanyahu said in a speech before Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on Sunday.

Days after the 25 January revolution erupted last year, Netanyahu warned of an Iran-style Islamist revolution in Egypt should Mubarak’s Muslim Brotherhood rivals eventually take over. He said Sunday that at that time, there were two possible options for the Egyptian revolution.

“We looked at it with sober eyes, and we said: It might go to the Google generation, but it might not. It might go to the Islamist direction. And by and large it has.”

...

“What we see is such a huge transformation in our region that we know that we will have to spend a lot more to defend ourselves,” he stressed. “Regional stability is not automatically guaranteed in the coming years, because there’s an Islamist wave sweeping the Arab world and beyond. There are very few populations that are exempt from it.”

But the key isn't being right. It's getting someone in a position to do so to listen and to act. Unfortunately, Bibi didn't succeed at that. But given that one of the few people who could have acted was President Obama, I doubt anyone else could have succeeded either.

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Egyptian Revolution

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:44 PM