Navigate to News section

Sundown: The Week That Nothing Happened

Plus a few minor things that happened, and more

by
Marc Tracy
February 04, 2011
Protesters in Tahrir Square today.(Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Protesters in Tahrir Square today.(Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

Sorry this week was so boring. Hopefully actual news will happen next week.

• Aaron David Miller predicted in Tablet Magazine that Israel would fear the Egyptian uprisings; here, he explains why. [WP]

• Leon Wieseltier concedes Israeli fear of the new Egyptian government, but also indicts Israel’s government for not having made progress on the peace process during calmer times. [TNR]

• A Muslim Brotherhood spokesperson on CNN refused to confirm that his group, if in power in Egypt, would continue to respect the Israeli peace treaty. [JPost]

• How President Obama’s reaction to the Egyptian events has helped articulate the emerging “liberal realism.” [TNR]

• An additional primer on Egyptian Vice President (and likely next strongman) Omar Suleiman. [The Arabist]

• Israel depends on an Egyptian natural gas pipeline for one-fourth of its electricity. Uh oh. (For more, see my interview with James Hamilton.) [WSJ]

• Coptic Christians probably have the most indisputable case for wanting Mubarak to stay. [WSJ]

• Israeli-Arab leader and alleged Hezbollah spy Ameer Makhoul was sentenced to nine years in prison. [JPost]

• The University of Maryland’s endangered Yiddish studies department scraped together enough funds to last, for now, through 2013. Still can’t beat Duke, though. [JTA]

• Establishment-y people are standing up for foreign aid. [Laura Rozen]

• ‘Course, Sen. Patrick Leahy wants to cut Egyptian aid till this all gets sorted out. [Laura Rozen]

• “The main stumbling block is Israel,” says George Soros. Have fun in the comments, guys! [WP]

• We’re supposed to be scared of a Muslim Brotherhood-run Egypt? We’re allied with Saudi Arabia, for Chrissake. [Slate]

• Solomon and Cohen out at the Times Magazine (Times critic Ariel Kaminer will be the new Ethicist). For some of our readers, this is the biggest news of the day. Here is Rachel Shteir taking Cohen down. [Daily Intel]

• Oh, by the way, none of this matters compares to Jordan. I’m exaggerating, of course, but Jordan actually is more important at this point. Will the Hashemite monarchy survive? [Goldblog]

Enjoy the Game.

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.