As the Muslim Brotherhood looks set to win a third of parliamentary seats in Egypt, Israeli politician says get ready for a confrontation

A member of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) has said that Israel should prepare for a confrontation with Egypt due to the recent political developments. Benjamin Ben-Eliezer of the Israeli Labour Party told a meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, “The latest developments in Egypt show that it’s a matter of time before Israel will find itself in direct confrontation with Egypt and thus we should start preparing for such an event.” Ben-Eliezer is a former Army Minister and was the Israeli official closest to the former Egyptian leadership, especially to the ousted president Hosni Mubarak.

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According to Yedioth Ahronoth, Ben-Eliezer said: “We are in the centre of a storm or an earthquake, and I can’t see that this earthquake has subsided, and it will certainly not subside in the near future, while Egypt is on the verge of general elections.”

Ben-Eliezer believes that the Muslim Brotherhood will win at least a third of the seats in Egypt’s parliament. Islamisation, he claims, will enter the People’s Assembly of Egypt instead of nationalisation. “We are in a situation where no one can guarantee what the Egyptian government will look like. We should take into account that we might find ourselves in a confrontation with Egypt.”

Referring to the unstable situation in Egypt’s Sinai Region, Ben-Eliezer added, “Today we have problems in Sinai, which has turned into a prominent terrorist region, and since Sinai’s situation is contrary to our freedom to act in Gaza, we must also take this into consideration.”