David, an Israel/Middle East expert comments about the ‘Arab Spring’ and Israel.

Hi Jaime,

Below, are my opinions to each of your questions.  

1) Is the Arab Spring bad for Israel in the long run or good?

1. Even though the Arab Spring began over a year ago, things are still unfolding and no one knows what the outcome will be yet, especially in regards to Israel. In all honesty, it should take at least a few years before we get a clearer picture of everything. 

2) The ‘Arab Spring’ is been really contagious in the Middle East, but have thing really changed for all those countries or just for a few with their relationship with Israel?

2. Right now, the state of Arab-Israeli relations is mixed. On the positive side, Israel’s neighbors are in no position to start a war. On the negative side, terrorists, such as Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, have managed to take advantage of the anarchy and acquire thousands of rockets to launch at Israel. And in fact, Hamas has been making good use of their rockets as the people of Israel’s southern communities could very well tell you. In addition, terrorists in Sinai have been taking advantage of the anarchy in Egypt (and Sinai in particular) and attacking Israeli communities over the border, on and off, when they’re not busy sabotaging the gas pipeline which supplies both Israel and Jordan. 

3) What is the current U.S. policy with Israel (good as always)?

3. American-Israeli relations have always been good – regardless of who is president. That’s because Congress, in general, has always been supportive of Israel, and the president, whoever that would be at the time, has to take that into consideration. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be considered a “president”, but a dictator. 

4) Does Israel have anything to gain from the Arab Spring?
4. Whether Israel has anything to gain from the Arab Spring or not, at this point, is subject to debate. Surely, if the Arab countries were to become true democracies, that might help. But then again, the countries of the European Union are true democracies and many of them have been cold to Israel for years. I guess for a more detailed answer, I’d refer you to my answers to your first and second questions.

5) Is Israel secretly dealing with all or some of the new governments founded after the revolutions? Or with any?

5. If I knew if Israel was dealing secretly with any of the Arab governments, then it wouldn’t be a secret. I do know that the present military ruler of Egypt, Omar Suleiman, has been doing his best to help Israel keep the peace along the border. Egypt and Israel has had a peace treaty since 1979 and Suleiman knows it’s in Egypt’s best interest not to break it. Whether or not his successor would feel the same is a different story. King Abdullah of Jordan, in accordance with Jordan’s peace treaty of 1994, has also kept his border with Israel quiet. Israel is also trying to restart peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, but that, I believe, is just an exercise in futility. Further away, Israel has a trade liaison office in Qatar for a few years now.

6) Anything else you may want to add.?

6. I think I covered everything on this subject that I can think of. If you feel I’m missing something, feel free to ask me as many questions as you like. 

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