The Hill News

HERZLIYA, Israel -- Israeli President Shimon Peres on Sunday focused on the positive themes in Egypt's pro-democracy uprising during a speech before a gathering policymakers, analysts and government officials.

Peres acknowledged the protesters' desire for economic betterment and new political leadership and expressed hope that Egypt would transition to a government guided by democratic values. 

{mosads}"President [Hosni] Muabarak has done a great deal for peace, but the younger generation wants peace and democracy too," Peres said during the first keynote address of the annual Herzliya Conference, an internationally-watched major political and policy convention.

Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have echoed Peres's hopeful vision, but have strongly cautioned that a new regime in Egypt could be co-opted by radical Islamic elements and abandon the country's historic 1979 peace accord with Israel.

But Peres! , a three-time prime minister who now holds the largely ceremonial position of president, did not specifically mention the peace accords. He also said Islamic elements participating in the Egyptian street protests, which have raged for nearly two weeks, might not succeed in grabbing power.

"Poverty can be defeated with science and technology, but it is hard to maximize their use without democratic openness," he said.

"We cannot overlook the possibility that young Arabs will succeed in the revolution," he added. "Let us not assume that conservatism and fundamentalism can succeed."

The president called for the resumption of peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinian, even though experts say that the unrest in Egypt could pu t those on the shelf. 

"I am turning to our Palestinian neighbors and saying, 'come, compromise,'" he said. "A two-state solution at the nature of this time could be an example for many states in this region."

Peres proposed an "economic quartet" led by representatives of the business and high-tech sectors that could develop solutions to improve the economic situation across the Arab world.

"History has lost its patience, it is going on at a rapid pace," he said. "Either it will gallop ahead, or it will gallop along without it."