Jerusalem - Israeli media expressed almost unanimous
concern on Monday about the victory of Muslim Brotherhood candidate
Mohamed Morsi in Egypt's presidential election, warning of a difficult
new reality.
"Darkness in Egypt," read the headline of the
top-selling Yediot Aharonot newspaper, with commentator Smadar Peri
writing inside the newspaper that Morsi's victory was a dangerous
development for Israel.
"From our standpoint, when the
presidential palace in Cairo is painted for the first time in Islamic
colours, this is a black and dark day," she wrote.
Elsewhere in
the same newspaper, analyst Alex Fishman wrote that Morsi's victory
meant "everything is open, and the future is unclear".
"Israel
should be prepared for every eventuality," he wrote, evoking the
possibility of "an Islamist intelligence minister, a re-examination of
the peace accords, a collapse of the economic agreements and lack of
security co-ordination."
"The new Middle East. The fear has become reality, the Muslim Brotherhood are in power in Egypt," lamented the Maariv daily.
"The
peace treaty has been put in doubt," the paper wrote, adding that
"there is very serious concern in the political and military class in
Israel because Egypt is the largest of its neighbours and has decisive
influence on the Arab world".
Greater challenges
Yaakov
Katz, writing in the English-language Jerusalem Post, took a more
pragmatic view, offering the "good news [that] in the short term nothing
is expected to change".
"Egypt's president-elect will have far
greater challenges to deal with than to pick a fight with the Jewish
state," Katz wrote, pointing to the Egypt's dire economic predicament in
the post-uprising period.
But he said Morsi's election had
altered Israel's defence realities, and could "affect the growing terror
threat in Sinai," as well as "hinder Israel's operational freedom the
next time there is a flare-up... in Gaza".
The left-leaning
Haaretz devoted most of its front page to Morsi's victory, noting that
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement on Sunday
night saying the Jewish state "respects the results".
"Israel
hopes to continue co-operation with the Egyptian government on the basis
of the peace treaty," the statement from Netanyahu's office said.
