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January 31st, 2011
10:05 AM ET

What do uprisings in Egypt mean for Israel?

The unrest and uncertainty in Egypt has many wondering what's next for Israel?

Egypt is Israel's closest ally in the region and some worry the potential dismantling of the current Egyptian regime could endanger its neighbor. Daniel Kurtzer is a Former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt as well as a Former Ambassador to Israel and talks to T.J. Holmes about what the protests in Egypt could mean for Isreal.


Filed under: Egypt • World
soundoff (5 Responses)
  1. Ray Leigh

    Put to one side the endless detail of what was or wasn't on the table when a deal might or might not have been cut with the Palestinians, whose land Israel occupies, the upheaval in Egypt will leave Israel and its US supporters with little Arab support.What is about to be revealed is the hollowness of the whole US-managed peace process – endless, on-again, off-again talks that go nowhere while, at the same time, Washington buys co-operation from Cairo and Amman at a cumulative cost of tens of billions of dollars n fact probably hundreds of billions.
    Egypt and Israel fought four wars from 1948 through to the early 1970s, but the treaty between the two brought a cold civility and a willingness by Egypt to help Israel in securing the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Both the Egyptian and Jordanian regimes stood by their treaties despite the Israeli invasions of Lebanon (2006) and Gaza (2008-09) and two Palestinian intifadas (1987 and 2000).
    But the masses have been left out of the spoils for far too long thanks to short sightedness and greed.

    February 1, 2011 at 9:41 am |
  2. Hussain

    Muslims conquest of Jerusalem was when Saladin took over the fatmids in Egypt hence the strategic importance, I suppose history is going to repeat itself soon the change has come fast

    February 1, 2011 at 4:42 am |
  3. Lujean Rogers

    Physician Rand Paul has it right. STOP aid to Israel. He has courage and integrity that is laciking in D.C.

    January 31, 2011 at 12:13 pm |
  4. Lujean Rogers

    The question should not be how the protests affect Israel! It should be how will ignoring the protests of thousands of Egyptians affect them if nothing it done to remove the tyrant Mubarak and how it affects the US. We have lost respect from the rest of the world by the mollycoddling of Israel while it thumbs it's nose at our president and continues its brutal, illegal occupation.. The "aid" of billions of $ to a Israel is appalling and aid to the current Egypt is equally disgusting and unfair to the American taxpayers. The US has sent
    tanks, teargas bombs, equipment for years! The US has turned into a wartime economy and needs to be working for peace. Our soldiers are fighting needless wars and dying every day or horribly injured. Most of those wars are being fought because Israel wants them and the armchair warriors in the US (politicians who are taking bribes from libbies, in the millions of $).

    January 31, 2011 at 12:12 pm |
  5. Lujean Rogers

    The concentration shouldn't be on Israel, a rich, nuclear armed country, but on thousands of mostly young people protesting for freedom of speech, free elections. The US is key to settling this, stopping aid to Egypt (nothing but a bribe to make nice to Israel – that was ages ago, no longer relevant). Mubarak is a tyrant, used torture, arrested former protesters. This time so many thousands came out, he was shocked. – 30 years of tyranny hurt thousands of Egyptians. Look at the protesters!, well dressed, speaking English, expressing openly what they want. Pres. Obama needs to make a decision fast, before more people are killed. He needs to stop AID NOW, tell Mubarak to step down and out. It's time to get tough with him and with Israel.

    January 31, 2011 at 12:04 pm |
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