Jerusalem Post: 5 Tamuz 5772 (June 25, '12)
Feiglin: Israeli Return to Sinai Inevitable
By Gil Hoffman
Recapturing the Sinai Peninsula that Israel gave to Egypt in the 1979 peace treaty is a foregone conclusion following the victory of Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsy in Egypt’s presidential election, far-right Likud activist Moshe Feiglin said Sunday night.
Feiglin said he was not surprised by the Brotherhood taking over Israel’s neighbor to the South. He noted that the peace agreement, which then-prime minister Menachem Begin signed with then-Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat, was never implemented on the Egyptian side even though 4,500 Jews living in Sinai lost their homes. “There never was peace,” Feiglin said.
“Those who still dream sweet dreams of Begin’s Camp David Accords and Yitzhak Rabin’s Oslo agreements need to wake up and see that what happened in Egypt is the continuation of the Iranian revolution, and Islamic fundamentalism will take over the entire region. It is clear that in the end, reality will require Israel to return to where we were before [Sinai] and unfortunately withdrew.”
National Union MK Michael Ben-Ari called Morsy’s victory “the final nail in the coffin of the illusion of the peace with Egypt that we paid a heavy price for.”
Opposition leader Shelly Yechimovich said that peace with Egypt is of the highest strategic importance, and Israel must do everything in its power to maintain it.
“Despite the complexity involved, we must conduct a dialogue with whoever is elected to lead Egypt,” she said.
Labor MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said last week that Israel must make overtures to Morsy and his Brotherhood if they won.
“We have no choice but to find a way to start a dialogue with the Muslim Brotherhood,” Ben-Eliezer said. “We need to help Morsy understand that it is in Egypt’s interest to maintain peace with us, no less than Israelis realize that it is in our interest to maintain peace with them.”
Feiglin said he was not surprised by the Brotherhood taking over Israel’s neighbor to the South. He noted that the peace agreement, which then-prime minister Menachem Begin signed with then-Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat, was never implemented on the Egyptian side even though 4,500 Jews living in Sinai lost their homes. “There never was peace,” Feiglin said.
“Those who still dream sweet dreams of Begin’s Camp David Accords and Yitzhak Rabin’s Oslo agreements need to wake up and see that what happened in Egypt is the continuation of the Iranian revolution, and Islamic fundamentalism will take over the entire region. It is clear that in the end, reality will require Israel to return to where we were before [Sinai] and unfortunately withdrew.”
National Union MK Michael Ben-Ari called Morsy’s victory “the final nail in the coffin of the illusion of the peace with Egypt that we paid a heavy price for.”
Opposition leader Shelly Yechimovich said that peace with Egypt is of the highest strategic importance, and Israel must do everything in its power to maintain it.
“Despite the complexity involved, we must conduct a dialogue with whoever is elected to lead Egypt,” she said.
Labor MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said last week that Israel must make overtures to Morsy and his Brotherhood if they won.
“We have no choice but to find a way to start a dialogue with the Muslim Brotherhood,” Ben-Eliezer said. “We need to help Morsy understand that it is in Egypt’s interest to maintain peace with us, no less than Israelis realize that it is in our interest to maintain peace with them.”
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