HAVE THE NEOCONS REALLY SPLIT WITH ISRAEL OVER EGYPT?

Some neocon writers are pondering the same question. Jonah Goldberg, a neocon correspondent with ‘The Atlantic’ writes:

The neoconservative (or liberal interventionist) wing of American Jewish political thought (not that all neocons are Jewish, God forbid anyone should think that!) is cheering on the revolution in Egypt, while the Israeli government, and much of Israel's pundit class, is seeing the apocalypse in Mubarak's apparent downfall.

The fact is, because the neoconservatives over the years – particularly during the period since 9/11 – have vigorously bandied around the concept of ‘democracy’ as part of their propaganda rhetoric to Westernise the Islamic world, especially in the Middle East, and boasted how Israel is the ‘only’ functioning democracy in the region, they are now stuck with it as an ideology. Short of exposing themselves as complete hypocrites, the neoconservatives now have little choice but to support democratisation in Egypt (and, indeed, anywhere else).

But don’t be fooled.

What the neoconservatives say and what they believe are very often two entirely different things. Indeed, being deliberately deceitful in order to influence public opinion to support a particular outcome is a carefully defined strategy evolved from the Straussian theory of the ‘noble lie’ and is a characteristic of neoconservative ideology. While neoconservatives publicly pronounce one policy, they are often feverishly working behind the scenes to ensure that the opposite will happen and then, when it doesn’t happen as they have pronounced, they’ll blame other players – real or imaginary – for its failure. Iraq is a classic example.

The present crisis in Egypt is no different. The neoconservative’s primary concern is the protection of the Zionist entity and its long term objectives of creating a Greater Israel surrounded by friendly Arab nations with Western-style democratic governments free of radical Islamic influence. For the neoconservatives, being seen to pursue democracy in Arab states that surround Israel is important to them inasmuch that it is part of their long-term objectives but, one can rest assured, that it will not be at all at the expense of Israel’s security against Palestinians and Arabs fighting to defend themselves against Israeli aggression as they attempt to realise their Greater Israel dreams.