'If we win elections, we will work to end ties with Israel'

Ahead of Egypt's parliamentary elections, Muslim Brotherhood says cutting "illegitimate" relations with Israel will be top priority.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
muslim brotherhood 311 (photo credit: AP)
muslim brotherhood 311
(photo credit: AP)
A day before parliamentary elections in Egypt, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badie, said if his movement wins the election, it will work to sever relations with Israel. "We are certainly not happy with the illegitimate marriage between Cairo and Tel Aviv," he told the London daily Al-Quds al-Arabi on Saturday.
"The regime's leaders are well aware that once we rise to power we will change many things in Egypt's policy, starting with the country's relations with Israel which have caused us great harm."
RELATED:Washington Watch: Who’s rooting for Mubarak?Egypt arrests hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members
Badie, who's movement faces slim chances to strengthen in the parliamentary elections, added that, "We will not allow Palestinians to starve while we close the gates on them, and while the Israelis enter Sinai whenever they want."
The Brotherhood leader said there were three forces who do not want his movement to win the elections: the US, Israel, and the Egyptian regime which "wages a war against the Egyptian people, led by our movement."
In recent weeks, police and armed gangs have broken up campaign rallies by candidates of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, and more than 1,000 Brotherhood activists have been arrested.
The ruling National Democratic Party holds a powerful majority in the current parliament, but the Brotherhood succeeded in seizing a fifth of the seats in the 2005 vote. Many believe the government is determined to ensure the fundamentalist Brotherhood is squeezed out of the new 508-seat parliament.