Israeli PM warns Middle East instability could last for many years

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Wednesday that the Middle East is going through a period of instability that may last for many years.

During a speech before Knesset, Netanyahu claimed he hopes the Arab world would undergo true democratization. However, he admitted that his entity must prepare itself for every outcome. "We are going through an unstable transitional era that has the potential to continue for many years."

Netanyahu also pointed to the potential repercussions that the recent Arab revolutions may have for the Zionist entity. "There may be debate regarding a peace partner today, but there is uncertainty regarding the existence of a partner tomorrow… The best intelligence experts worldwide did not predict and cannot explain how this tumult will end. We do not know what will happen on our west, and we do not know what will happen to our east, and who can determine whether the Palestinian state – in the middle of it all – will hold on?"

"What is the conclusion of all this? Just as the de-facto peace relations that we had with one country – Iran – evaporated in a moment, just as the more official, more established relationship that even included joint military exercises and 400,000 tourists evaporated overnight when the Turkish prime minister attacked our President Peres in Davos, today we want to guarantee that the peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan will remain solid."