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Egyptian Status Quo Ends for Israelis, Palestinians

(Reuters) Crispian Balmer - Israel's regional strategy was underpinned by its peace deal with Egypt, enabling the country to scale back dramatically its military budget. Mubarak's Egypt also supplied Israel with 40% of its gas needs. This deal has now gone up in smoke. Few expect that Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi, if victorious, would trash the peace accord with Israel - too much foreign aid depends on it. By the same token, nobody in Jerusalem expects anything more than frigid relations from a man who is quoted as calling Israelis "vampires." Hamas, which does not recognize Israel's right to exist, believes that with the Brotherhood fully in control in Cairo, its position in its internal struggle for supremacy against the Western-backed Abbas would be greatly strengthened. "To a great extent Islamists in Palestine see their future tied to the victory of Morsi, which would complete the circle and leave the Islamists in full control of the entire Egyptian political system," said Talal Okal, a Gaza-based Palestinian political analyst.
2012-06-08 00:00:00
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