Islamist Win Worries Israel, Relieves Gaza

Hyderabad, June 20: The election of Muslim Brotherhood's candidate Mohamed Mursi as Egypt's new president has sparked deep worries in Israel.

"We are waking up to the dawn of a different Middle East: more religious, more Islamic, and to my regret, more Israel hating," Labor member of Knesset Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told an Israeli newspaper the Times of Israel.

"Israel must wait for the official election results, but has no choice but to sit down opposite whoever wins," added the former defense minister and a longtime friend of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

The Muslim Brotherhood has defeated his rival former premier Ahmed Shafiq to become Egypt's new president.

But the declaration is contested by Shafiq's campaign, insisting that the former premier leads by two to four points.

"We have no choice but to find a way to start a dialogue with the Muslim Brotherhood," said Ben-Eliezer.

"We need to help Mursi understand that it is in Egypt's interest to maintain peace with us no less than Israelis realize that it is in our interest to maintain peace with them."

Israel and Egypt signed a US-sponsored peace treaty in 1979, under which Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula, which was occupied in the 1967 war.

Since Mubarak's downfall following a popular revolt last year, Israel has been worried with the potential scenarios that could take place in Egypt.

The change of power in Egypt might also alter Israel's entire strategic outlook, given the fact that thanks to the peace treaty, the Israeli military kept minimal presence on its southern border, freeing it up for actions to the east and north.

Source: Siasat