Manama: Israel's prime minister is using the massive street protests in Tunisia that ousted the country's president to cast doubts over a peace treaty in the Middle East.
"The Tunisian unrest highlights an important issue regarding a possible Middle East peace treaty," Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been regularly accused by Palestinians of evading peace negotiations, said.
"There is doubt whether or not such an agreement would be followed by all sides in the long run in view of the pervasive political instability in the region. We don't know if a peace agreement would be respected and so any peace deal would have to include on-the-ground security arrangements," Netanyahu said, quoted by Israeli daily Haaretz.
Popular protests over corruption and unemployment forced President Zine Al Abidine Bin Ali to flee the country on Friday afternoon after 23 years of iron-fisted rule.
However, Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday that the events in Tunisia were an example of "how unstable Israel's region is."
"There are several centres of instability in our region and we hope that peace and security return to the region," he said.
