ISRAEL: DAILY ALERT
The U.S. needs to face up to the threat presented by the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood across the Middle East, Israel’s National Security Council concluded during a strategic discussion several days ago. The council, responsible for providing the prime minister with strategic assessments, said it was concerned about the Muslim Brotherhood’s pronouncements, repeated this week, that call the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty into question. The Brotherhood’s second-in-command, Dr. Rashad Bayumi, said on Sunday that the Muslim Brotherhood, which is set to dominate Egypt’s new parliament, will never recognize Israel and will even work to amend the Egypt-Israel peace treaty.
In its assessment, the council, headed by Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, concluded that Israel needed to accept the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood would eventually assume power in most Arab countries, with Egypt first and foremost. The council believes that the Muslim Brotherhood is not just a religious and cultural force, but also a reincarnation of the totalitarian fascist movements seen in Europe over the past century.
Nevertheless, council members believe that the U.S. and key European countries can still exert influence over Muslim Brotherhood governments through economic leverage. The council also stressed that Egypt, regardless of which government is in power, is united with Israel in its opposition to Shiite Iran’s nuclear program through which it plans to control the region.
(Shlomo Cesana - Israel Hayom)