Hamas is crowing as Egypt’s election results roll in.
The Muslim Brotherhood triumphs in Egyptian, Tunisian and Moroccan elections come on the eve of preparations for celebrations to mark the 24th anniversary of Hamas’s founding in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas supporters said that the rise of their political allies to power in the Arab world was “the biggest birthday gift for Hamas” on the anniversary of its establishment.
They said that in addition to Israel, the Palestinian Authority leadership also stands to lose from the results of the elections in the Arab world.
Hamas leaders expressed hope that Egypt’s policy toward their movement in particular and the Israeli-Arab conflict in general would change for the better in wake of the Muslim Brotherhood’s success.
By “for the better,” they mean that they hope the new Egypt acts more like the pre-Camp David Accords Egypt: At war with Israel. Hamas says it’s already getting friendlier treatment out of Cairo.
The Rafah terminal has been reopened and Hamas members have been released from Egyptian prisons.
Moreover, Hamas leaders have since been welcome in Egypt as VIP guests – much to the dismay of the PA leadership.
Hamas hopes that a strong presence of the Muslim Brotherhood in parliament and perhaps in government would bring about a complete change in Egypt’s policy toward the Palestinians, said a Gaza-based academic.
“Hamas is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and any victory for the Muslim Brotherhood is a victory for Hamas and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” he told The Jerusalem Post.
The Muslim Brotherhood has many branches and offshoots, including Hamas and al Qaeda. The Obama administration’s active choice to turn its back on Mubarak at his weakest moment has set the stage for the Islamist takeover of what until recently was one of the most reliably anti-terror states in the Arab world. That choice has also sent the signal that now is a bad time to be an ally of the United States. We’re both unpopular in much of the world, and unreliable.
It is true in a morbid way, that no one has done more for Israeli security than President Obama. But there’s no reason to worry, really. It’s not like this president appoints ambassadors who see all of this as being Israel’s fault or anything, or has a secretary of state who unfairly singles Israel out for criticism of its domestic politics.
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