Israel's Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, the only man in the Israeli government authorized (by himself) to speak out about the current dramatic protests in Egypt, appeared to switch his position dramatically today. His remarks appeared to be an effort at re-positioning, in anticipation of a coming change of leadership in Egypt, the first neighboring state to negotiate a peace treaty with Israel. According to Israel's YNet website, here, Netanyahu made his remarks “at a special Knesset hearing about ‘the failures of the Netanyahu government in political, economic, and social fields' … called by 40 MKs [Members of Knesset] who signed a petition calling for the session”. YNet reported that “Netanyahu told the Knesset plenum Wednesday that hopes for ‘the dawn of a new day' are understandable. ‘Anyone who treasures man's liberties draws inspiration from the calls and possibilities for democratic reform', he said. ‘It is inevitable that an Egypt which adopts the 21st century, which adopts such reforms, is a source of great hope for the world, the region, and us'. Netanyahu, who has previously voiced concern that the uprising would take on the characteristics of the Islamic revolution in Iran, spoke in a more positive tone on Wednesday. ‘Democracy is dear to us, it is real, and it is obvious that a democratic Egypt will not endanger peace, just the opposite. If modern history teaches us anything it is that the stronger the democratic foundations, the stronger the foundations for peace'.” Netanyahu did not omit an assurance — that sounded more like a heavy hint — that Israeli had put unspecified “security arrangements” in place: “A peace agreement does not guarantee the existence of peace, so in order to protect it and ourselves, in cases in which the agreement disappears or is violated due to a regime change on the other side, we protect it with security arrangements on the ground,” he said. He gave no further details about these “security assurances” – and was apparently not even asked. Meanwhile, the U.S. White House and State Department spokespersons in Washington have said that, following remarks made last night by President Barack Obama, the transition in Egypt must start now [emphasis was made in the verbal original]. The re-emphasis was needed, because Obama's remarks less than 24 hours earlier, after Egypt's President Mubarak said in a televised pre-recorded speech that he would stay in office until the next scheduled elections in September, left a lot of latitude for interpretation – depending what you might have thought Obama meant by “begin”, and what he meant by “now”. The impact was apparently not what was intended. By Wednesday afternoon, the world watched the astonishing spectacle of the first organized attacks on anti-Mubarak protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square, as the Egyptian Army just stood by. At least three were killed, according to Egypt's Heath Ministry. And, reports coming from field hospitals set up by supporters in nearby buildings, including mosques, say at least 1,500 were injured. Journalists were among those targeted. Journalists — local and international — were beaten and had their equipment stolen. Four Israeli journalists were arrested “for violated the curfew”, and, according to one report, for entering the country on tourist visas and not having work visas. They were later reported freed and on their way back to Israel. Al-Arabiyya experienced an attack on their offices, and Al-Masry Al-Youm evacuated one of their offices after another was attacked. One Tweet tonight reported that the “Committee to Protect Journalists has a list of journalists reportedly attacked in Cairo today here.” On Twitter, @abumuqawama joked “By the way, NDP, roughing up [CNN's] Anderson Cooper is one thing, but if anything happens to [America's CBS news anchor] Katie Couric, AC-130 gunships will be on station ASAP”… But on the ground it was no laughing matter. Journalists said they felt the danger increasing as the night went on. America's former Ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, told Al-Jazeera English on Wednesday that if this continues, U.S. influence in the region would be diminished. Indyk said that “There is recognition in Washington that the ground is shifting, rapidly and dramatically”, and, he said, “America should be on the side of change”. But, as things stand now, a Middle East analyst interviewed on Al-Jazeera late at night said that events in Tahrir Square on Wednesday showed the Egyptian military as loyal to Mubarak – making it seem that America has simply provided a $1.3 billion-dollar-per-year safety net for Husni Mubarak. Meanwhile, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the de facto capital of the Palestinian Authority – as Khaled Abu Toameh reported here for the Jerusalem Post – “Dozens of Fatah supporters demonstrated in Ramallah on Wednesday in support of Egyptian President Husni Mubarak. The demonstration is the first of its kind in the West Bank since the beginning of the uprising in Egypt. Fatah-controlled media outlets on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on [Mohamed] ElBaradei, dubbing him a ‘war criminal' and holding him responsible for the Iraq war”. Not long afterwards, Tweets reported that activists who were provoked by the Fatah event had suddenly organized, on short notice, an impromptu demonstration in Ramallah's central Manara Square – which was suppressed by Palestinian police, just as an earlier one a few days ago. Those involved said they could not just sit at home. It might be the first time that a group of activists who are unaffiliated with any of the Palestinian political “factions” have ever challenged the Palestinian Authority. They reached out for support to some of their contacts who have been supporting the Egyptian protests. The announcement of this demonstration was sent out just after 20h00: @RamallahNow: PEOPLE IN RAMALLAH PLEASE BE @ MANARA TONIGHT AT 9 PM, IN SOLIDARITY WITH OUR FAMILIES IN EGYPT… @rzabaneh: 2night at Ramallah's AlManara, activists are calling 4 a demo to support Egyptian freedom fighters @ 2100 LT. #Egypt #Jan25: Here were some Tweets sent Wednesday night between 21h00 and 22h20: @RamallahNow – Police held 6 men inside the station, ppl saw them hitting the men, and hitting 2 women.- #Ramallah #jan25 • The Minister of Interior is inside the Police Station. • After 1 hours, ppl are getting scattered, but tens are still there. • Police (with smart tactics) are isolating ppl into small “discussion” groups! • 50 people gathered again in the #Ramallah square, in addition to the 150 around the police station At 21h45: @ mkhatib7 More than 150 Palestinians at Almanara are singing for #egypt #jan25 PA police arrested and beat 2 guys http://plixi.com/p/74302217 • PA Thugs prevented Palestinians demonstrators from taking videos and pictures and forced me into deleting videos And, this Tweet gave some perspective: @TheDailyNuisance – This is the second time that the PA has tried to shutdown #Egypt and #Tunisia solidarity rallies in #Ramallah. BM
