Fareed's GPS on the Fritz Again

Fareed Zakaria, author of the cover story in the current issue of TIME, admits that the Israel-Palestinian issue is not as central to Arab thinking as the Obami apparently believe it is. And he understands--to a certain extent--why Israel views the possiblity of the Muslim Brotherhood ruling Egypt with alarm. Even so, he thinks the onus is on Israel to make a show of good faith by, er, "solving" the Palestinian problem (which rather contradicts his observation re the Arabs' attitude to it):

It has been fascinating to watch as the legendary "Arab street" finally erupted spontaneously and freely. It turned out not to be consumed with the Middle East peace process and the Palestinians. Israelis have reacted to the unrest in Egypt with horror, convinced that any change will mean less security for their country. To an extent this is true. The peace between Egypt and Israel was never between two peoples but between their regimes. Israel might have to ask itself what policies it will have to pursue to create stability with a democratic Egypt. It would hardly be a cure-all, but were Israel to offer a deal that Palestinians accepted, it would surely help persuade Egyptians that Israel does not seek to oppress the Palestinian people.

First off, such a "deal" is as far away as it's ever been. Second, Egyptians don't give a fig about "the Palestinian people." They hate Israel because it's Jewish, and that wouldn't change even with a "peace" agreement. Third, it isn't up to Israel to "create stability" in Egypt--and were you to suggest such a thing to Egyptians (Jews? Responsible for stabilizing Egypt?) they would be the ones reacting "with horror."