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There is no doubt that me Arab uprisings or "Arab Spring" is transforming the whole of the Middle East in a way that no one could have predicted only a few months ago. Rulers who had stayed in power for decades,1 as in Egypt and Tunisia, have been forced to resign.2 The Arab Spring has brought about regional changes in the distribution of power in the Middle East and has provoked the redistribution of roles and interests regarding the strong states in the area. For Israel, the most powerful state in the region, the Arab Spring has not engendered optimism regarding relations with its neighbours and poses security challenges for the Jewish state.
From the very first moment that the revolt in Egypt occurred, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu asked U.S. President Barack Obama and a number of other Western leaders "to make it clear to any Egyptian regime that it must abide by the peace agreement (Camp David Accords) with Israel,"3 showing Israel's nervousness and embarrassment regarding future events in the region.
The uprising in Syria poses further security challenges for the whole region. Israel also has to cope with an aggressive Iran as well as Turkey's aspirations to be a regional hegemon. Both states may exploit the results of the Arab Spring in order to further their own objectives. My main argument in this article is that the Middle East is entering a new phase of strategic instability4 and volatility that will affect all the states of the region, and especially Israel.
The Worsening Security Dilemma
Egypt
The Camp David Accords of 1 979 constituted a major transformation in the regional distribution of power in favor of the Jewish state. The aforementioned agreements between Israel and Egypt removed the threat that Egypt, the most powerful Arab country, posed to Israel's western borders. The two mortal enemies that fought four bloody wars (1 948, 1 956, 1 967 and 1 973) became friends. Egypt recognized Israel and a new era began in their relations. Despite me fact that the Accords were not welcomed by the Arab League, which ostracized Egypt from its ranks, Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak retained and respected the agreement. The consequences were two-fold. On the one hand, the reactive Arab...