Knesset Member Binyamin Ben-Eliezer
Photo: Yaron Brener
Ben-Eliezer: Israel, Egypt on collision course
Labor MK and close friend of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warns of Muslim Brotherhood's growing influence
Knesset Member Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, a close friend of deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak,
warned that the latest developments in Egypt
indicate that "over time Israel
will find itself in a head-on confrontation" with its Arab neighbor.
Ben-Eliezer (Labor) told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Monday that Israel "should start preparing for a conflict" with Egypt.
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"We are in the midst of an earthquake, and I still can't see it subsiding, definitely not in the near future when elections are on the horizon (in Egypt)," Ben-Eliezer told Yedioth Ahronoth.
"Today it is clear that for the first time in history the Muslim Brotherhood will win at least a third (of the seats in parliament). Islamization is taking the place of nationalism," the MK said.
According to Ben-Eliezer, "We are in a situation whereby no one can predict how the new Egyptian leadership will look like (following elections).
"We must take into account that we may find ourselves in a confrontation with Egypt. We already have a problem in (north) Sinai - which has clearly become terrorist territory – (because we cannot operate freely there) as we do in Gaza," he said.
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