Senior Israeli official: New Egypt does not view Israel as an enemy

Director of the Political-Military Affairs Bureau at the Israeli Defence Ministry Amos Gilad has praised the Egyptian military coup and described the new Egypt as a part of the “Sunni bloc that does not view Israel as a sworn enemy.”

During the international summit of the Israeli Institute for Counter-Terrorism, held in Israel last week, Gilad described the axis composed of Saudi Arabia, UAE, the other Gulf States, Jordan and Egypt as a “powerful Middle Eastern axis of Sunni states that controls the region.”

Speaking to Israeli newspaper the Jerusalem Post, he stressed that, “this axis is very heavyweight,” and recommended that Egypt should be the leader of the Arab world. “I disagree with those who do not see it this way,” he said. “There is a mass of 87 million Egyptians who are one nation with a 5,000-year history,” he added.

The former Mossad chief does not think that the Gulf States are facing any danger. He considers the Muslim Brotherhood to be the most dangerous body in the Arab region. “All of the kingdoms, from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain, are surviving,” he said, stressing that, “not one faces an existential danger.”

Gilad affirmed that that while Israel will never “be accepted as a formal member” of the Sunni axis, the states that comprise the axis all view the US as the sole superpower and their regional policies are indirectly beneficial for Israel.

“This has a huge importance… and gives us many opportunities,” he said at the conference.

As a result of his war against the Muslim Brotherhood, the Israeli official views Abdul-Fattah Al-Sisi as the “leader who history will remember.” Gilad believes the danger of the Muslim Brotherhood is rooted in their long-term ideology, which calls to destroy Israel, thus ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Gilad also hailed the Jordanian fight against the Muslim Brotherhood. He called them “radical Islamists,” and said: “There are no terrorist attacks in Jordan or attacks from Jordan on Israel. Jordan’s existence as an independent kingdom is impressive.”

He added that Israel does not face any threat from Syria or the Lebanese side, referring to Hezbollah. He said that both powers were deterred by Israeli power. He said that Hezbollah has even stopped carrying out “gesture attacks”.