Israel, the Neocons and the Arab Spring

There is no doubt that many of the neocons were and are strong supporters of Israel. But there were actually always philosophical differences between important neocon thinkers like Robert Kagan and Bill Kristol, and the Netanyahu government. Above all, they differed on the desireability of democracy in the Arab world.

The neocons were all for democratic revolutions across the Arab world – believing this to the be long-term route to political stability and prosperity. The Israelis were much more sceptical, fearing that democratic governments would take a much more populist (or maybe just popular) line on Israel – and endangering key regional relationships with Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.