JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israel and the West must support Egypt's army, an Israeli official said Monday, after 25 Egyptian policemen were killed in an attack in the Sinai bordering Israel.
The unnamed official's comments in an Israeli daily came a day after a New York Times report that Israel would press Western powers to support the military in unrest-swept Egypt.
By "not taking things away from them (the army), not harming or threatening them," the US and EU could help Egypt "get back on track," the Jerusalem Post quoted the official as saying.
"The name of the game right now is not democracy," he added.
"The name of the game is that there needs to be a functioning state. After you put Egypt back on track, then (you can) talk about restarting the democratic process there."
Egypt's unrest has heightened Israeli concern, especially due to Islamist violence in the increasingly lawless Sinai Peninsula, which borders both Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Israel and Egypt, which in 1979 became the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel, coordinate closely on military activity in the Sinai. more
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