Egyptians Want to End Israel Peace Treaty

Tuesday, 26 April 2011

CAIRO – As Egyptians continue to celebrate the dramatic political changes their nation has undergone, a new poll has found that the majority of Egyptians are in favor of annulling the three-decade-old peace treaty with Israel, holding negative views about the US.

“There is a difference between the people’s feelings toward Israel and their political assessment,” Sobhi Saleh, a prominent member of the Muslim Brotherhood and a former parliamentary candidate, told the New York Times on Tuesday, April 26.

Being the first major poll since the revolution that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak, the poll, conducted by the Pew Research Center, was based on face-to-face interviews with 1000 Egyptians.

Asked about the peace treaty, 36 percent favored keeping the treaty, while 54 percent wanted to annul the 1979 treaty.

Saleh said that he supported maintaining the treaty.

“Those who want to maintain the treaty are motivated by Egypt’s interest. It is not because they accept Israel.”

Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in Camp David, the US, in 1979, under which Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula, which was occupied in the 1967 war.

Since Mubarak’s overthrow, Israel has been worried with the potential scenarios that could take place in post-Mubarak Egypt.

The change of power in Egypt might also alter Israel’s entire strategic outlook, given the fact that thanks to the peace treaty, the Israeli military kept minimal presence on its southern border, freeing it up for actions to the east and north.

In addition to that, Israel imports about 40 percent of its natural gas from Egypt, which has also played a big role in stopping the smuggling of weapons and goods into Gaza, and in helping Israel in its blockade policy aimed at pressuring Hamas.

Israel was not the only country Egyptians were disappointed about in post-revolution era.

In the spring of Arab revolutions, a growing dislike of how US President Obama has dealt with calls for political change across the Middle East was hugely minimizing support for the US among Egyptians.

The poll results showed that 52% disapprove President Obama policies during the Middle East revolutions, compared with 45% who approve.

Future Hopes

The poll showed that Egyptians were very much optimistic about the future of heir new democratic country.

“Nearly two-in-three are satisfied with the way things are going in Egypt, and most are optimistic about their country’s future,” the results of the poll were published on Pew’s website on Monday, April 25.

The poll also tried to directly address Islamic and secular groups who led the 18-day revolution all over Egypt, basically the Muslim Brotherhood and April 6 Movement.

Refuting earlier fears by the West that Egyptians would drift to radical extremism, a plea long publicized by Mubarak’s regime, the poll showed a mutual acceptance for the Muslim Brotherhood and the liberal April 6 Movement.

It shows the Muslim Brotherhood is regarded favorably by about three in four Egyptians, receiving very favorable ratings from 37 percent of respondents and somewhat favorable ratings from an additional 38 percent.

These results put the group roughly at a par with the April 6 Movement, receiving very favorable ratings from 38 percent of respondents and somewhat favorable ratings from an additional 32 percent.

Analysts said these results showed that Egyptians have strict commitment to their faith, sharing a favorable view about modern life style as well.

“That’s why people can have a favorable impression of the April 6 Movement and like the Brotherhood at the same time,” Amr El Shobaki, a political analyst in the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said.

“Average people enjoy a high degree of reconciliation between Islam and modern ideas. So they are conservative but not extreme.”

Yet, the results were dismissed by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, long regarded as the best-organized political movement during Mubarak era.

“These findings are wrong, and it’s only a matter of two months until you see that,” Saleh, of the Muslim Brotherhood, said.

But, the coming leader of the country and economic conditions remained a highly important issue for most Egyptians.

Among proposed candidates for presidential elections, the poll showed a huge support for Amr Moussa, the head of the Arab League and a former Mubarak foreign minister, as the front-runner.

Seven in 10 had a favorable view for Ayman Nour, the leader of Al-Ghad liberal party, while 57 percent favored Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Prize winner and former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The results showed a big support among Egyptians for stability and improving economic conditions.

“These are the people who are looking for stability,” Shobaki, the political analyst, said.

They “want their economic conditions to be improved and do not necessarily want to see drastic changes.”

Source: OnIslam.
Link: http://www.onislam.net/english/news/africa/452001-egyptians-want-to-end-israel-peace-treaty.html.