Iran's Press TV claimed on Monday Israel is giving weapons to Egypt to prop up the Hosni Mubarak regime which is engulfed in crisis and appearing to inch towards doom as violent popular protests gained momentum.

The Press TV said reports followed phone conversations between the US, Egyptian and Israeli defense ministers.

Israel has provided the Egyptian government with weapons amid the country's popular uprising demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, reports say, the Press TV report said on Monday. However, the Press TV report doesn't give further details, nor say clearly how it got the news of Israeli arms supply to Egypt. It however refers to an earlier Washington Post report which quoted an Israeli cabinet minister as saying that Mubarak will eventually tide over the present crisis.

The violent demonstrations, which entered the seventh day on Monday, have forced the Mubarak regime to deploy the military to quell the uprising. The CNN reported on Sunday that Egyptian defense minister Mohamad Tantawi asked the public to obey the curfew. The demonstrators are bracing for a military crackdown of protestors in major Egyptian cities under the curfew.

There is palpable tension in the Israeli capital as the Egyptian crisis unfolds. We are following with vigilance the events in Egypt and in our region. The peace between Israel and Egypt has held for more than three decades and it is our goal to maintain these ties … At this time we must show responsibility and restraint, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the cabinet yesterday, according to Abu Dhabi's The National.

Egypt is one of only two countries in the region which have signed peace deals with Israel, the other being Jordan. It's an open secret that Israel frets the possibility of a new regime replacing sympathetic Mubarak, especially since chances are high that the Muslim Brotherhood will have a role in any new dispensation.

Egyptian Revolt Israel Egypt TV