Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Israel is increasingly worried over the prospect of
another revolt in Egypt.

Officials said the escalation in unrest in Egypt is threatening
regional stability as well as relations with the Jewish state. They said the
unrest reflected the growing power of the Muslim Brotherhood and the
Islamist opposition.

“This is anarchy,” former Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said.

On Nov. 21, Egypt’s Cabinet resigned in wake of the killing of up to 40 protesters in clashes with the military and security forces. The violence, which continued into Nov. 23, has threatened parliamentary elections scheduled for Nov. 28.

Relations between Egypt and Israel have declined since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in February. Since then, the Israeli embassy in Cairo was attacked and ransacked, driving diplomats out of Egypt.

Over the last few months, the Israel Army worked on a plan to double its combat force presence along the Egyptian border. The Army has also overseen a project to construct a five-meter high fence along the more than 200-kilometer border, infiltrated by Al Qaida and Palestinian insurgents.

“Israel is constantly communicating its desire to improve relations,”
Ben-Eliezer, a parliamentarian and close to Defense Minister Ehud
Barak, said. “But the leadership today is hand-in-hand with the people and
their expectations are high. They will simply blame Israel.”

The Israeli Defense Ministry and Foreign Ministry have assessed that the
Brotherhood and its allies were expected to easily win parliamentary
elections, a development that could threaten the peace treaty between Egypt
and the Jewish state. But the Brotherhood was not expected to gain genuine
authority until presidential elections, which so far have been delayed by
the military regime.

“The picture coming out of Egypt is very problematic and sensitive,”
Homeland Security Minister Matan Vilnai told Army Radio on Nov. 23. “We are
ready for any scenario — whatever it is — and right now, it doesn’t look
good.”

  Al Qaida, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Egyptian unrest, Ehud Barak, Hosni Mubarak, Israel Army, Israel sees rising Islamist power behind new Egyptian unrest, Matan Vilnai