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NEWS
NATIONAL AND WORLD
The Lesser and Greater
of Two Evils
EGYPTIAN ELECTIONS CONFIRM ISRAELI FEARS
Ever since the beginning of popular
uprisings in Egypt 10 months
ago, Israelis have been watching the
nascent democracy movement nervously,
concerned about the direction Israel’s south-
round of parliamentary elections has con-
mood to say, “I told you so.”
The liberal, secular parties in Egypt seem to
have garnered very few seats in parliament.
Mohammed ElBaradei, former head of the
possible Egyptian presidential candidate, said
that the reformists have been “decimated.”
The High Election Commission announced
that the Freedom and Justice
Party, a right-wing religious
party associated with
the Muslim Brotherhood—
an Islamist movement that
had been crushed for years
by former Egyptian president
Hosni Mubarak—won
36 percent of the votes cast.
The Nour Party, represent-
Islamists, won 24 percent.
There were 9.7 million ballots
cast altogether. There
still are runoff elections this
week for many of the positions
that were already
voted on, as well as two
more rounds of voting in
18 of Egypt’s 27 provinces.
But the Islamist hold seems
assured.
There have been no signs
of voting irregularities, something
that many protestors in
recent uprisings against the military government
were worried would knock the voting
off-kilter.
ElBaradei attributed the popularity of the
religious parties to the conditions in which the
populace lived during the Mubarak dictatorship.
“It should not be a surprise people are
voting with their gut. People lost their sense
of identity with the state. They identify with
religion,” ElBaradei said.
The liberal and secular parties also failed to
form stable coalitions early on; the Islamists
retained name and “brand” recognition from
years of opposing Mubarak.
Whether the two Islamist parties will work
Old Egyptian man places ballot in box
already made statements suggesting that
they do not want to join the Muslim Brotherhood
in a coalition government, and ElBaradei
believes that the Muslim Brotherhood
would rather join liberal groups for a coalition.
One other question revolves around the
1978 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.
Some members of the Muslim Brotherhood
have stated that they oppose the treaty, but
whether Egyptian politicians would jeopardize
their international standing over the treaty is
unclear. ElBaradei said that he believes that
the Muslim Brotherhood does want to keep
a healthy relationship between Egypt and the
West.
16 AMI MAGAZINE // DECEMBER 7, 2011 // 11 KISLEV, 5772