PM: I Was Right To Doubt 'Arab Spring'

Speaking at a meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations Sunday night, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reminded listeners at the opening of the meeting that he had warned last year not to be overly optimistic about the effects of the “Arab Spring". At the time, Netanyahu said, he was accused of “not being optimistic enough,” but that his prediction then, that the revolutions in the Arab world could be hijacked by Islamic groups. “It turned out that we were right,” he said.

One result of the revolutions in the Arab world, he said, was an increase in Israel's security levels, and as a result, it was now more difficult to consider coming to a peace deal with the Palestinian Authority. “As we see a major change in the region, we realize that we are going to have to takes steps to defend ourselves,” Netanyahu said.

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