Israel Pushes for Conditional Democracy in Egypt

Officials Press for West to Impose Demands on a Free Egypt

A new statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is demanding that the rest of the world impose conditions on a possible freely elected government in Egypt, demanding that they accept, in its entirety, the 1979 Egypt-Israeli peace deal.

Israel’s government has vigorously defended the Mubarak government, and officials have chastized other Western nations for even luke-warm approval of the notion of free elections in Egypt.

Officials have expressed serious concern that any non-dictatorial regime in Egypt might mean a revision of the peace deal, though Netanyahu has backed off that somewhat and now seems to grudingly accept the notion of a conditional democracy next door.

Some Egyptian protesters are calling for the abandonment of the 1979 deal, not because they want a war with Israel (or even believe one would break out without the deal) but because they object to some of the more onerous requirements regarding travel in the Sinai Peninsula, saying the checkpoints Egyptians are required to navigate make it feel like an Israeli territory.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.