May 24, 2012 | 12:35 am

May 24, 2012

Posted by Shmuel Rosner

An Egyptian woman shows her ink-stained finger after casting her vote at a polling station in Cairo, May 23, 2012. (Photo: Reuters)

We need a strong Egypt

In an open letter to the new Egyptian president published in the Times of ‎Israel, IDF reservists Daniel Suhareanu and Avi Nave urge him not to throw ‎away the decades of peace with Israel in the name of populism. ‎

While most Egyptians are too young to have experienced the brutal wars with ‎Israel, their aging leadership would be wise to remember: It was the 30 years ‎of conflict that drove our leaders to sign the Camp David accords. It was the ‎tens of thousands of dead Egyptians and Israelis that prompted Anwar Sadat ‎to fly to Jerusalem and address the Knesset. It was the billions of dollars ‎wasted on our many wars that compelled our leaders to make peace and ‎secure a better future for our two peoples.‎

Reaching Iran through South Africa

South Africa’s relationship with both Iran and the United States could make it a ‎valuable tool in negotiations, argue Eliot Pence and Mehrun Etebari in the National ‎Interest. ‎

Since the Islamic Republic’s support for the African National Congress ‎during the apartheid era, Iran’s relations with South Africa have been ‎strong. The bond is reinforced by South Africa’s dependence on Iranian ‎crude oil, which makes up a quarter of its imports. Amid efforts by the ‎United States to wean South Africa off Iranian oil, Tehran has moved ‎decisively to shore up relations, announcing it will invest billions into ‎South Africa’s beleaguered power-generation sector.‎

Netanyahu is Not a King
‎
Despite what Time Magazine may believe, the Israeli prime minister does not ‎enjoy the absolute power of a sovereign, writes Arik Elman in Algemeiner. ‎

Netanyahu is not a king because the Israeli political system does not allow for a ‎fully independent chief executive. He still has to manage his government and his ‎coalition, and, however counter-intuitive that might be, the bigger this coalition ‎grows, the more unruly it becomes. When the MK’s from Kadima look at the polls, ‎which promise that, in the best-case scenario, only 8 out of 29 of them will survive ‎the new elections, they are sorely tempted to distinguish themselves to get attention ‎and to secure places on the more propitious lists and this can only be achieved by ‎rebelling against the majority.‎

Israel’s refugee problem

In two pieces for Ynet, Yoav Keren argues for and Moshe Ronen argues against ‎the deportation of the thousands of African refugees currently residing within ‎Israel’s borders. ‎

‎[T]his is our only state, and because should we fail to curb the flow of ‎infiltrators, the first Hebrew city, Tel Aviv, will not remain Hebrew for long. In 20 ‎years, the Jewish state as a whole may not remain Jewish.‎

‎[T]he refugees who already crossed the border fence are here, and we are ‎responsible for their fate. It would be inhumane to deport them. It’s also ‎forbidden by international conventions ratified by Israel.‎

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