Israel will undermine Tunisia's revolution

Tunisia's Wafa Movement Secretary-General Abdel Raouf Ayadi has claimed in an exclusive interview with Arabstoday that recent French and Israeli statements concerning the country's internal affairs aim to undermine the Tunisian revolution. "I do not think that the Israeli Foreign Ministry is concerned with the protection of Jews in Tunisia," he said. "But it is keen to thwart the Tunisian revolution and disturb national security." Ayadi claimed that Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali's initiative to form a non-partisan, technocratic government was "doomed to fail," adding that it had "nothing to do with the revolution." Jebali formally resigned yesterday, following a meeting with President Moncef Marzouki, threatening to throw Tunisia deeper into national crisis. Opposition leader Ayadi expressed fears of an impending military coup in Tunisia, after tensions between political parties were significantly heightened following the assassination of popular left-wing leader, Chokri Belaid. He claimed internal divisions currently racking the country's ruling Islamist Ennahda party represented a "real crisis" driven by the movement's distance from the desired goals of the revolution. "Ennahda turned a blind eye to the demands of the revolution and so it has been subjected to real divisions between revolutionary and counter-revolutionary forces," Ayadi said.