Israel’s former ambassador to Egypt, Tzvi Maz’el, says he hopes Mubarak recovers fully from his operation.
“Mubarak is 82 years old,” Maz’el told Arutz-7’s Hebrew newsmagazine, “and he underwent a serious operation for the removal of a small growth and his gall bladder – not simple for a man his age, and that’s why there were all types of speculation about his condition. It was ten days before he was seen in public…”
“I hope he recovers,” Maz’el said, “because he’s the man who gave the positive balance in the relations between Egypt and Israel, he upholds the peace, and it’s because of him that we have a strong diplomatic dialogue between the two countries.”
Presidential elections in Egypt are scheduled for late 2011, Maz’el said, “and Mubarak will have to decide whether he wants to run again, or choose his successor. It is likely that he will choose his son Gamal; the opposition parties don’t like the idea of automatic succession, but it’s likely that if Mubarak chooses him, the public will vote for him, in one way or another…”
Asked about Gamal Mubarak, Maz’el said, “He’s a young man who was educated in the United States; he’s an expert on economics and media, and knows the world, one can say. We don’t know his approach to Israel, but he accompanied his his father a lot, and I would imagine that his approach would be more or less the same.”
Maz’el, currently a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, says the situation in the Middle East is not a pleasant one: “While Saudi Arabia has been wooing Syria, Egypt has been keeping both Syria and Iran at arm’s length. On the other hand, the U.S. and Europe recently ended their isolation of Syria… Egypt doesn’t want Iran to be bombed, because then Iran will respond in the Middle East, causing harm to Egypt as well. In short, the situation is not simple… But Mubarak has maintained relative stability, and I don’t believe that Egypt is interested in a war or ending the stability. We should all hope that he remains healthy [or] prepares his successor properly.”