Hamas’s seizure of the Gaza Strip in June could have nightmarish consequences in Egypt, hastening its transformation into an Iranian-aligned Islamist state.
Dr. George Friedman points out that the Arabs in Gaza, unlike those in the West Bank, have historically “been oriented toward the Egyptians, who occupied the region until 1967” (Stratfor.com, June 19). While the Egyptian government created the Palestine Liberation Organization, the dissident Muslim Brotherhood helped influence Hamas’s creation in 1987. These historical and spiritual ties give Brotherhood members cause to rejoice over Hamas victories. “[T]he strategic consequence of an independent, Islamist Gaza is that it can act both as a symbol and as a catalyst for change in Egypt,” Friedman wrote.
This is the last thing Israel needs. Egypt, historically the pillar nation in the region, is one of Israel’s only neighbors with which it has a functional peace agreement. But the winds of revolution are picking up over Cairo. Popular resistance to the presidency of Hosni Mubarak is growing, and the radical Muslim Brotherhood is gaining public support and political clout. Hamas’s victory could energize these destabilizing trends.
Even the Egyptian press is noising concern over the possibility of a Hamas-style coup in its country. One Egyptian columnist, Tariq Hasan, reported on Muslim Brotherhood representatives in parliament accusing the Mubarak government of waving “the Zionist flag, despite the people’s opposition to this. This means that [in their view] Egypt, like the Palestinian Authority, deserves that a revolution should take place in it” (memri, June 28). Several Egyptian columnists speak of Hamas and the Brotherhood in the same breath.
Reports also show the beginnings of some links between the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran. Given the similarity in their ultimate goals, we should expect these ties to expand in the time ahead.
Biblical prophecy suggests a strong link between Iran and Egypt in our day, and thus the Trumpet has been monitoring Egypt for some years for signs of a dramatic turn toward Iran’s radical orientation. You can read the scriptural explanation bolstering that forecast in our free booklet The King of the South.
Suffice it to say, the picture in biblical prophecy is of Egypt playing a significant role in Iran’s soon-coming attack on Jerusalem—and it too possessing the fatal weaknesses that plague its deluded allies in Tehran.