clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Israel and US hail Egypt's war against Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood

March 8, 2014 at 1:27 pm

Egypt is playing the role of Israel in the battle against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, a former military Israeli official said on Thursday.

According to Israel Radio, former Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Arenz suggested on Thursday that the Egyptian court ruling to designate Hamas a “terrorist organisation” relieves Israel of the burden.


“The Egyptian war against Hamas reduces the need for Israel to wage a war against it in the future,” he told Israel Radio.

Several Israeli officials also hailed the Egyptian ruling against Hamas, describing it as a gift to Israel.

Commenting on the ruling, the head of the Likud bloc in the Israeli government, Yoram Levin, even made the claim that the Egyptian judiciary is much better than the Israeli legal system. Israel’s Channel One television reported him on Tuesday calling for changing the Israeli judiciary to become more similar to the Egyptian one.

After the Egyptian ruling against Hamas was announced, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called for dismissing “suspected Hamas members” in the Israeli Knesset, referring to the Arab members who represent secular and communist movements.

Meanwhile, the political correspondent of Israel’s Channel Two television, Udi Segal, has revealed that US President Barack Obama assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the situation in Egypt after the July ouster of the freely elected president, Mohamed Morsi.

Segal, who accompanied Netanyahu on his tour to the US, said that Obama told Netanyahu that “all changes after the military coup against Mohamed Morsi are in Israel’s favour.”

He added that Obama and Netanyahu agreed to boost the abilities of the current regime in Egypt to help it face what they called “extremist” powers.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.