Israeli politicians have recruited rap star Shyne to improve Israel’s image, though some have criticized the initiative, saying that the 34-year-old who became an Orthodox Jew while serving time in prison for a shooting incident is not a suitable advocate for the country.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Wednesday for "bolstering Israel's might" in response to the turmoil unfolding in Egypt, while at the same time seeking to pursue peace efforts with the Palestinians.

Ever since the victory over the dictator of Tunisia and the subsequent uprising in Egypt, my email has been flooded with messages from Jews around the world hoping and praying for the victory of the Egyptian people over their cruel Mubarak regime.

Edward Djerejian, former U.S. ambassador to Israel and Syria, talks about protests in Egypt against President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule and the role the country's military should have in any transition of power. Djerejian speaks with Lisa Murphy on Bloomberg Television's "Fast Forward."

But few Israelis really believe in that hopeful outcome. Instead, the grim assumption is that it is just a matter of time before the only real opposition group in Egypt, the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, takes power. Israelis fear that Egypt will go the way of Iran or Turkey, with Islamists gaining control through violence or gradual co-optation.

Palestinians watched anxiously as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who has helped broker Middle East peace talks for the past 20 years, said yesterday he won’t run for another term. Neither the Palestinian Authority, which rules the West Bank, nor its president, Mahmoud Abbas, has said anything official about the weeklong protests that challenged Mubarak’s rule, calling the situation too volatile.

Two different White Houses, two different speeches. In June 2005, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stood before an audience of 600 at the American University in Cairo, assailed the Egyptian government for intimidating and locking up protesters and called for President Hosni Mubarak to hold free elections.

From the outset of the Obama presidency and the emergence of the Obama Doctrine, the similarities between this Administration and that of Jimmy Carter have been striking. Like Obama, Carter trumpeted soft power and international institutions as the means to solve the most perplexing foreign policy problems.