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After 6 days of keeping their opinions to themselves, Israel has finally voiced its concerns over the unrest in Egypt.
Israel called on the United States and a number of European countries over the weekend to curb their criticism of President Hosni Mubarak to preserve stability in the region.
Jerusalem seeks to convince its allies that it is in the West's interest to maintain the stability of the Egyptian regime. The diplomatic measures came after statements in Western capitals implying that the United States and European Union supported Mubarak's ouster.
I wonder how the Egyptians are going to feel when they discover that their neighbor prefers that the dictator stay in control of the country. Is Israel afraid that maybe the next government in Egypt may not be so accommodating to their wishes?
"The Americans and the Europeans are being pulled along by public opinion and aren't considering their genuine interests," one senior Israeli official said. "Even if they are critical of Mubarak they have to make their friends feel that they're not alone. Jordan and Saudi Arabia see the reactions in the West, how everyone is abandoning Mubarak, and this will have very serious implications."
Now, so far as the protests are concerned, there are many in Israel who like the idea of political change in Egypt and many are hoping that the same can happen in their country.
But interviews revealed something shocking: Some Jewish Israelis, fed up with the stalled peace process and frustrated with the status quo, said that they hope to see an uprising similar to Egypt's sweep through their own country.
Amongst them is a 33-year-old Jewish Israeli woman who lives in Tel Aviv and works in education. When asked if anti-government protests - which began in Tunisia and have spread to Egypt, Jordan and Yemen - might erupt here, she answered: "We're far from it. And I say this in happiness and sadness."
She explained that watching events unfold in Tunisia made her value Israel's stability. But, she added, "I think the appropriate thing here would be a revolution."
Why?
What the interviewee calls Israel's "hidden dictatorships" - political wheeling and dealing that gives the religious right a disproportionate amount of power and allows the Jewish settlers to keep on building illegally.
Rita, a 38-year-old housewife who asked to be identified by a pseudonym, remarked of Egypt's protests: "I wish that we had people that would go out to the streets like that."
You can read here to get views from Israelis who could care less if the Egyptians kill themselves trying to gain a Democracy.
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