Cairo, February 15
The Egyptian military today constituted a panel of legal experts, including a member of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, to suggest amendments to the Mubarak-era constitution while firing two top security officials for their handling of the anti-regime protests.

The eight-member committee that has been entrusted with the task of studying the constitutional reform would be headed by Tareq al-Bishry, a retired judge known for his independent views and support for a free judiciary during the reign of Hosni Mubarak.

The Supreme Military Council has vowed to rewrite the constitution within 10-days and submit it to a public referendum within two months’ time. The council said in a statement on television that the panel “must finish its work in a period of no longer than 10 days after the date of this decision”.

The inclusion of a former lawmaker of the largest opposition group Muslim Brotherhood, Sobhi Saleh, in the panel is a significant message by the new military leadership that has chosen to begin the political reform process from scratch.

A Muslim Brotherhood leader, meanwhile, said that the group would apply to become an official party in the near future once the time is ripe.— PTI

The collapse of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime has left many Israelis wondering about the future of the peace treaty between the two countries.

In fact, some Israelis believe that the Jewish state should be prepared for the possibility that Egypt's new rulers would scrap the treaty. The US Administration, meanwhile, has been working hard in recent days to prevent such a scenario.

Israel's biggest nightmare is the largest Arab country could fall into the hands of Muslim extremists who are allied with Iran.

As soon as the anti-government demonstrations erupted throughout the country, Israel quickly shut down its embassy in Cairo and recalled its ambassador and diplomats. At this stage it's still not clear when and if the embassy would be reopened.

Many Egyptians who demonstrated against Mubarak have also called for the abrogation of the peace treaty with Israel. These calls did not only come from the Muslim Brotherhood, but also from secular opposition figures and parties.

Peace between Israel and Egypt has always been described as "cold." Many Egyptians never came to terms with the peace treaty and have consistently sought to cancel it.

As part of this struggle, many Egyptians stubbornly resisted attempts at "normalisation" with Israel. Journalists, writers, lawyers and politicians who dared to visit Israel or establish contacts with Israelis often found themselves blacklisted by "anti-normalisation" groups. But for most Israelis, a "cold" peace is much better than a state of war and tensions.

Commenting on the possibility that a new Egyptian government might abrogate the peace treaty, former Israeli Army Chief of Staff, Gabi Ashkanazi, said: "I think that the peace treaty with Egypt, as cold as it is, is of strategic importance to the State of Israel and I hope that that will be the case but we have to be ready for that."

He added that Israel has planned for such a scenario, but did not elaborate.

Echoing the same fear, Caroline Glick, a senior Israeli political commentator, said: "One of the first casualties of the Egyptian revolution may very well be Egypt's peace treaty with Israel."

She added that the Egyptian public's "overwhelming animus towards Jews renders it politically impossible for any Egyptian leader to come out in support of the treaty."

Glick and other Israelis were shocked this week to hear Ayman Nour, the head of the oppositionist Ghad Party and the man heralded as the liberal democratic alternative to Mubarak, call for the peace treaty to be abrogated.

In an interview with an Egyptian radio station Nour declared: "The Camp David Accords are finished. Egypt has to at least conduct negotiations over conditions of the agreement."

Seeking assurances, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak phoned his Egyptian counterpart, Mohammed Tantawi, and expressed hope that the peace treaty would not be affected by the regime change in Egypt.

For now, Egypt's military rulers say they will honour the treaty and all international and regional agreements signed by the deposed regime.

In a bid to reassure Israel, President Barack Obama dispatched US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen to the Middle East.

After meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Mullen stated that the "connection and the relationship with the Israeli Defence Forces goes back decades."

But the one thing that Israelis agree on is that they will undoubtedly miss Mubarak. "President Mubarak was indeed a tyrant. He was apparently corrupt as well," remarked Eitan Haber, a leading journalist who served as an advisor to slain Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

"Yet this is the same Mubarak who wore suits and ties, spoke English, upheld the peace treaty, hosted Israeli leaders at his palace, arrived at the Rabin funeral, and even, imagine that, provided us with gas at a special price.”