SCREW THE EGYPTIANS, WHAT ABOUT ME?:

Israeli critics open up on US ‘abandonment' of Mubarak (HERB KEINON, 01/31/2011, Jerusalem Post)

Senior Israeli government officials have been strict in maintaining a silence regarding the events in Egypt, and have also been hesitant about criticizing – at least publicly – US President Barack Obama’s stand toward the developments there.

Privately, however, some have expressed deep concern at what they view as the hypocritical abandonment by the US of a longtime ally once he seemed to be in trouble, with one official saying that while America believes pushing Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak out would lead to a democratic government, the more likely scenario was that this would lead to an Islamist regime even worse on issues like human rights and freedom than Mubarak.

On Monday, a number of politicians, pundits and former security officials began airing this criticism in public.