Analysis: Why is Lieberman taking on Mubarak?

Israel doesn't have many friends in the Arab world. Egypt is one of few.

By MEIR JAVEDANFAR
Lieberman har homa 224.8 (photo credit: AP [file])
Lieberman har homa 224.8
(photo credit: AP [file])
Last week, the head of the Israel Beiteinu party, Avigdor Lieberman, shocked the Knesset by declaring publicly that the Egyptian president could "go to hell." His stated source of anger was the fact that many Israeli leaders had visited Egypt, but in return, Hosni Mubarak had been to Israel only once. Lieberman defined Israel's behavior as "self-effacement." Then, at the weekend, Lieberman asserted that "Egypt is waiting for the right moment to deploy its army in the Sinai in defiance of the peace agreements." In an interview with Channel 2, he elaborated: "There are enough signs and enough estimations that the Egyptians are just waiting for their window of opportunity." Israel does not have many friends in the Arab world. Egypt is one of the few friends it does have, and politicians should not be insulting its leader in such a manner. Especially not Mubarak, who has been instrumental in talks between Israel and Hamas, as well as in the current talks between Fatah and Hamas over next year's presidential elections in the Palestinian Authority. Olmert's and Peres's apologies to Mubarak were timely and justified. Israel Beiteinu is a somewhat powerful party in the Knesset. In the 2006 elections, it won 11 seats. Its inclusion in any coalition may be key to the formation of the next government. Therefore, while condemning Lieberman's remarks, we should also look at his motivations. There are reports that the Egyptian army may be going on maneuvers in Sinai. According to some analysts, some officials in Israel see them as threatening. Lieberman probably wants to capitalize on this and win votes in the elections on February 10 among the military and right-wingers. The other factor is that his supporters, who are mostly Russian Israelis, like to see a "strong leader" who is not afraid to speak his mind. Some believe that this is part of the Russian mentality. They want an Israeli Putin, and Lieberman is the closest thing they have. It should also be noted that many Russian Israelis belong to the Right, because a sizable number live in the West Bank. Also, during their persecution in the USSR as Jews, many Arab countries supported the Communist regime. This has stayed with them. There is also the Chechnya factor. Many Russian Israelis watch the news from back home. They see Israeli Arabs and Palestinians as Israel's Chechen problem. They believe that Putin's iron fist policy worked in Chechnya. Now they want Israel to do the same with Palestinians and Israeli Arabs, whom Lieberman and his supporters see as a fifth column. Over the last 60 years, many Israelis have questioned why so many Arab countries focus on creating enemies, whereas they would serve their people better by focusing on their domestic challenges. We could say the same about Mr. Lieberman. What the people of Israel need more than his verbal cockfights with Egypt and Israeli Arabs, is focus and solutions to local problems such as poverty, unemployment and corruption. These are far more threatening. And that's where Israeli voters would most probably want to see his "strength" employed. Meir Javedanfar is the coauthor of The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the State of Iran. He recently started the Middle East Analyst Blog at www.MiddleEastAnalyst.com.