Jews in Israel, as are those throughout the world, are keeping up with the news in Egypt through various newspapers and television reports. Like many issues facing the Middle East, there isn’t just one opinion on the subject.
For instance, Ronnie Belzer has been living in Petach Tikvah since 1969 with his wife, Judy. A retired college teacher, he asks, “Do you think my opinion is any different or more unique than the experts?”
“Simply stated, if there is a major regime change, it will be bad for Israel because we will then have to tear up our ‘cold peace’ agreement and prepare for another major adversary — in the south,” said Belzer, who has three children, nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Judy Firestone Singer lives in Kibbutz Merav, which is on the Gilboa mountains in the rural north. She has lived in Israel since 1983 and currently serves as mayor of her kibbutz and lives there with her husband and three daughters. The daughter of former Chronicle editor and owner, the late Milton Firestone and Bea Firestone Wasserstrom Flam, she says she’s far from an expert on the Egyptian situation. But she believes the recent uprising and riots in Egypt are fascinating historical material, great TV, and pose an interesting — if unsettling — dilemma for Israel, and for the West in general.
“Egypt, while in theory is a democracy with regular elections, is really a semi-totalitarian, fairly repressive, state firmly in the control of one man, President Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power since 1981. Arab countries have no tradition of revolutions or popular uprisings — that is, until very recently. Suddenly, the impossible has become a reality, as hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets, demanding the removal of the oppressive and corrupt regime.
“So, as champions of democracy and western liberalism, shouldn’t we be pleased? Well, not so fast. …
“Western countries, and Israel in particular, are extremely concerned about instability in the Egyptian regime. No one knows for certain what will happen if Mubarak is in fact forced from office, but it certainly does provide the opportunity for extremist and terrorist groups to step in, which could have a very damaging effect on the country and on the region. Egypt is, of course, one of the only two Arab countries at peace with Israel; but Israel is quite unpopular in Egypt and it is generally assumed that Mubarak has been single-handedly maintaining the peace with Israel for many years. The Egyptians in the streets at the moment are not thinking about Israel, but in the medium-to-long run, the fate of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty is far from certain.
“As the most populous, powerful and influential Arab country, what happens in Egypt sets the tone for much of the Arab world, and Arab rulers all over are no doubt on the verge of panic. The unrest has already spread from Lebanon to Tunisia to Egypt, and it is unlikely to stop there. Large-scale disruptions in numerous countries in the region will have a destabilizing effect, the results of which cannot be predicted,” Singer said.
Barry Kaplan made aliyah a little more than two years ago and currently works as sales manager for Identity Travel Ltd., specializing in bringing Jews and Christians to Israel. For a while he was happy to see change taking place in Egypt. Now he’s not so sure because he worries about the influence of the Islamic Brotherhood, “which spawned Hamas, Hezbollah and who knows what else.”
“I remember what happened in Iran when the religious fanatics took over,” he said.
Kaplan is saddened that the U.S. government does not seem to learning from the lessons of the past.
“I only see lip service and posturing. As an Israeli citizen, I now see Israel being pushed into a corner. We have been there before. We left Gaza and got rockets in exchange. We now have the possibility of the largest population of Muslims in the Middle East, being led by a fanatical group who only wants to see Israel wiped out of existence. Even today, one of the Egyptian leaders of the so-called revolution is calling for the extermination of Israel and the government has not even changed yet. Remember, that we here in Israel really hear what is said in Arabic and get correct translations. We hear the English also. Regretfully, the world only believes what it hears in English,” he continued.
“Things are changing every day, and we must keep aware of these transitions and how they will affect the largest concentration of the Jewish world today, tomorrow and in the future,” Kaplan concluded.
Author Libby Astaire said the crisis in Egypt hasn’t really affected life in Jerusalem, where she has been living since 1995.
“Here in Jerusalem life goes on as normal. Yesterday, we finally got a good rainstorm, which the country so desperately needs. Today, I’m working on a magazine article. Tomorrow, the daughter of a good friend is getting married. Normal, no?
“But what about Egypt? In a way, what’s going on there is ‘normal,’ too. Jewish tradition tells us that God creates the world anew every second of the day. That’s why we should never take for granted things like good health, a job — or the stability of a political ally. Everything can change in the blink of an eye.
“And so last week a friend fell and broke her knee, the father of a neighbor passed away, and hundreds of thousands of fed-up Egyptians took to the streets. What’s going on? God is running the world, as He always does. We just don’t know yet what the next blink of the eye will bring,” Astaire said.
Diane Wolkow Schaefer, who at one time was managing editor of The Chronicle, says current Middle East events, especially in Egypt, are just one more example of the fact that man can plan or theorize all he wants, “but ultimately everything that happens in the world is determined by the One Above.”
“You can apply this to everything from politics to the stock market to even being stuck in a traffic jam when you are in a rush to get to an important appointment. So I’m skipping all the theories about what’s happening in Egypt. Instead, I’m spending my time on more practical matters, like family, work and my daily obligations as a religious Jew,” said Schaefer, who is working as a technical writer and renovating her apartment where she lives with her husband and three children.
