Arabs must wake up, unite

Israel emerged from its electoral campaign sharply divided on the kind of peace it wants with the Arabs, with a man at the top who has spared no opportunity to show his intransigence.

But Benjamin Netanyahu understood the danger of divisions in Israeli society and called on Israelis in his victory speech to unite.

Arab officials, with the exception of the Jordanians, regarded Netanyahu's election as a catastrophe, which would at least postpone the peace process, if not freezing it.

Shortly before the Israeli elections ended, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said it was regrettable that Kuwait was not partitioned between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Afterwards, Syria and Jordan criticized each other bitterly on Amman's role in the region and Damascus' role in protecting Jordanian dissidents.

For their part, the Gulf countries are now busy with their fears of Iran.

Would Syrian President Hafez Assad meet with Jordanian King Hussein and what would they say to each other? And what about Assad and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat? Would Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak tell King Hussein during their expected summit meeting in Aqaba that he fears Jordan is trying to supplant Egypt's role in the region?

It is in such a state that Arab leaders want to confront Israeli extremism.

Undoubtedly, it is not a state that augurs well for the Arabs. If Arab leaders do not wake up, they will respond to Netanyahu in such a way as to give victory to Israel.

-- An Nahar, Beirut