ISRAEL WORRIED OVER ISLAMIC POWER IN EGYPT

Israel has become concerned over the rising power of the Islamic opposition in Egypt.

Israeli officials have concluded that the gains achieved by the Muslim Brotherhood in parliamentary elections in December could change relations with the Jewish state and the Middle East. They said the Brotherhood win could encourage Hamas’s takeover of the Palestinian Authority, particularly in the Gaza Strip.

“To get 88 seats in the Egyptian [People’s] Assembly is an achievement that needs our attention,” Amos Gilad, director of the Defense Ministry’s political-military division, said.

The Brotherhood rise took place in wake of an Israeli decision to increase strategic cooperation with Egypt. In September 2005, Israel allowed Egypt to deploy 750 police commandos, supported by combat vehicles, helicopters and naval vessels, along the 14-kilometer Egypt-Gaza border.