65 percent Israelis feel removing Mubarak regime dangerous for Israel

LONDON - Many Israelis fear that a change of regime in Egypt could endanger the Jewish state.

A poll this week by Yediot Aharonot, Israel’s biggest selling daily, revealed that 65 percent of Israelis believed an end to Hosni Mubarak’s rule would be “negative”.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has weakly endorsed the Egyptian pro-democracy movement.

It was important for him to stay close to his main ally, the US, which has repeatedly called for a swift transition, SKY news reports.

He told the Israeli legislature: “An Egypt that adopts democratic reforms is a source of hope to the world and to us”.

Danny Yatom, former head of Israeli spy agency Mossad, said that developments in Egypt are not good for Israel.

“If Egypt is chaotic, then it spills over into the rest of the region and that will be very negative. It could easily be that the next regime will not be as pro-peace as Mubarak has been.”

Looming in the background for Israeli leaders is the prospect that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood could emerge as a powerful force from the grass roots rebellion, which has so far gripped Cairo and Egypt’s second city, Alexandria.

The Brotherhood was formed as an anti-colonial movement against British rule and is dedicated to bringing Sharia law to Egypt. Its leadership was jailed and the movement banned under Mubarak.

During the past week, its leaders have insisted that it would not try to force Sharia on Egyptians and would respect the peace treaty with Israel.

But the Brotherhood also maintains, as part of its founding principles - that Israel should not exist. (ANI)