Israeli Deputy PM claims that the West has failed its allies in the Middle East

Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister has claimed that Western states have “failed” to assist leaders and regimes allied with them in the Middle East. Silvan Shalom’s statement was made in the light of the ongoing political unrest across the Middle East and North Africa region.

Israel has criticised bitterly the US administration and several EU governments over their support for the Egyptian revolution and their calls for former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak to step down once it became clear that the demonstrators would accept nothing less. Mubarak’s regime in Egypt had ties with Israel which have been described as “strong and intimate”.

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Mr. Shalom called on the international community to counter what he described as Iranian attempts to “play an active role” in the people’s revolutions, which he said were part of a plan by Tehran to control Middle East oil reserves.