Israel's ties with Cairo are safe and sound, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said in comments aired Sunday, adding that Egypt's uprising shares little with the 1979 Iranian revolution. "I don't think that the relationship between Israel and Egypt is under any risk, or that any kind of operational risk is waiting for us just behind the corner," Barak told ABC's "This Week" program.
But he did warn of the potential for an unsettling political shift in Egypt if authorities there rush too quickly to elections, a move he said would be "catastrophic" for the region if it allowed extremists to snatch power.
Egypt has maintained a historic peace accord with the neighbouring Jewish state for more than 30 years - only one of two Arab countries to do so.
With the ouster this past week of Egypt's long-time strongman Hosni Mubarak, a committed shepherd of the agreement and a Washington ally in the global fight against extremists, concern has surged over the potential for radical elements to take power in Egypt and eventually annul the peace pact.
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