Regional leaders remain silent over Iran's call to destroy Israel

Some Palestinians rejected the president's remarks.
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Arab governments remained silent Thursday as international condemnation grew over a call by Iran's new president for Israel to be destroyed.
Despite the silence, analysts in the region said Tehran's Arab rivals may quietly be pleased to see the radical regime further isolated by its extremism.
However, some Palestinians -- who would have the task of destroying Israel according to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- rejected the remarks.
"We have recognized the state of Israel, and we are pursuing a peace process with Israel, and ... we do not accept the statements of the president of Iran," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said. "This is unacceptable."
European governments condemned Ahmadinejad's comments, with British Prime Minister Tony Blair saying they increased concerns the clerical regime is a threat to global security and may even trigger pleas for pre-emptive action against Iran.
"I have never come across a situation [with] the president of a country saying they want to wipe out" another nation, Blair told reporters Thursday.
French President Jacques Chirac called the remarks "completely irresponsible," and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed "dismay," in a rare rebuke of a U.N. member.
In contrast, newspapers across the Middle East reported Wednesday's speech by Ahmadinejad without comment, many of them on their front pages.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry and Cabinet officials said Cairo would have nothing to say on the address.
Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher also declined comment, apparently to avoid further aggravating relations with Iran, which the kingdom has accused of interfering in Iraq to strengthen the Shiite influence in the Middle East.
Analysis
Analysts said Ahmadinejad's uncompromising line highlighted Iran's differences with other Middle East governments and will make it easier for the international community to take a tough line against Iran for its defiant nuclear policy.
Mohammed Wahby, a former diplomat and member of the Egyptian Council on Foreign Affairs, said it was a mistake to remain quiet about the speech.
"Recognizing Israel as an integral part of the Middle East is no longer in doubt," he said.
Mustafa Hamarneh, head of the Strategic Studies Center at the University of Jordan, agreed that Ahmadinejad was out of step, especially with the Palestinians.
"He's an ideologue who shot from the cuff; it was not a studied statement," Hamarneh said.
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