Libyan leader Muammar Khadaffi is stirring up trouble in the Middle East…again.
This time he’s trying to capitalize on the unrest in Egypt.
Anyone who’s been to Israel can tell you, it is a country for whom the term “military precense” was coined.
On every street corner you see young men and women with Uzi’s and M-16’s slung over their shoulders.
Israel is pretty tense these days, but the reason isn’t Muammar Kadafi…
Michael Friedson, an old colleague with Media Line in Israel says, the problems in Egypt are of much greater concern.
“The big concern in Israel is what’s going to be the face of…what’s going to be the democratic makeup…the move towards democracy,” He says. “The first question is, how long is it going to be before this Council of Generals really lets that happen. And number two, are opposition groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood going to be allowed in the government.”
There is a worry that the problem will spread to other friendly neighbors like Jordan…
“Assad in Syria is a minority king, Abdullah in Jordan is a minority king,” Friedson says. “And there is a fear that this thing could spill over with Palestinian unrest, and there could be a move on the king.”
And the situation in Lebanon is fluid and potentially explosive…
But Kadafi?
“It’s almost comic relief,” Friedson told us. “Nobody expects anything different out of him.”
Palestinians in Israel agree that Khadaffi’s call is frankly pointless.
And Israel has no illusions about the Muslim Brotherhood and its possible return to Egypt.
Friedson says, “A lot of people here see the possibility that an anti-democratic group like the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group could actually use the democratic process as a backdoor to accomplish what they haven’t been able to accomplish through terror.”
With relations a little frosty over disagreements with the US over settlements and the peace process, Israel is naturally uneasy with the possibility of a 30 treaty with Egypt becoming a casualty of the current unrest.