“Egypt is free!” shouted thousands of elated protesters, who took the streets of Cairo upon hearing that President Hosni Mubarak had resigned after 30 years of rule. Protesters hope that Mubarak’s resignation will pave the way to making Egypt into a true democracy.

Will Egypt succeed? The Egyptian military council presently has control over Egypt, and, along with Israel, Egypt has affirmed its support for the Israel-Egyptian peace. However, when the military steps down, who will fill the power void? Moreover, what does this mean for Israel, whose peace with Egypt for the last 30 years was dependent upon Mubarak’s support?

Political pundit Jonathan Schanzer sees three possible outcomes for Egypt’s government: a new dictatorship, the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, or a successful democracy.

A new dictatorship, he says, will probably function as Mubarack’s regime did, gaining the West’s support by ensuring a non-fundamentalist Islamic government. A dictator would likely keep peace with Israel in order to maintain U.S. backing.

If Egypt does successfully hold an election, the Muslim Brotherhood is currently the only opposition group that is organized enough to win, although the extent of the Brotherhood’s popularity amongst Egyptians is still debated amongst Western analysts. What would an Egypt under Muslim Brotherhood control mean? Rabbi Hier, founder of the Simon Wisenthal Center, said in an interview on NBC that democracy is theoretically wonderful and made all the better by Egypt’s position of influence in the Middle East. However, the Muslim Brotherhood, the strongest contender for power, espouses anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel, reveres death over life, and declares jihad to be the only way to bring about change. The Brotherhood is no big fan of democracy either: Mustapha Mashour, Supreme Spiritual Leader of the Brotherhood, has asserted, “Democracy contradicts and wages war on Islam.”

Even a democracy not dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood may be bad news for Israel. Schanzer notes the unpopularity of the 1979 Camp David Accords amongst Egyptians and their opposition to the current degree of warmth in the present cold peace between Egypt and Israel.

Newsweek columnist Dan Ephron likens this possible change in the Middle East dynamic to a similar change Israelis faced back in 1979 with the overthrow of the Iranian Shah. “It was a big trauma. It forced us to find alternatives to some of Israel’s basic needs,” said Uri Lubani, Israel’s representative in Iran in the 1970s.

Former Israel Defense Forces chief Gabi Ashkenazi expressed hope in Israel finding these alternatives in a once again, shifted Middle East dynamic. Reaffirming the value of the treaty to Israel, Ashkenazi said, “I think that the peace treaty with Egypt, as cold as it is, is of strategic importance to the state of Israel, and I hope that that will be the case, but we have to be ready for that.” In response to concerns that the new Egyptian government will not respect its treaty with Israel, Ashkenazi reassured his audience that “we have planned for this situation.”

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, at a weekly cabinet meeting, praised the treaty and the current Middle East dynamic that has resulted: “The government of Israel welcomes the Egyptian military statement that Egypt will continue to honor its peace agreement with Israel. The peace agreement with Israel has stood for many years. During this period, all Egyptian governments have upheld and advanced it, and we believe that it is the cornerstone of peace and stability, not only between the two countries, but in the entire Middle East as well.”

Whether the new Egyptian government will continue in the path of its predecessors and keep the peace remains to be seen. Israelis hope that Egypt will respect the 30-year-old peace treaty, but they are prepared for whatever foreign policy decisions the new Egyptian government will make. Given the grim prospects of a pro-Israel Egyptian government, Israel had better start dusting off Plan B.