Knesset Member Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, a close friend of deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, warned that the latest developments in Egypt, indicate that "over time Israel will find itself in a head-on confrontation" with its Arab neighbor. Ben-Eliezer of the Labor party told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Monday that Israel "should start preparing for a conflict" with Egypt. Ben-Eliezer told Yedioth Ahronoth "We are in the midst of an earthquake, and I still can't see it subsiding, definitely not in the near future when elections are on the horizon (in Egypt)...Today it is clear that for the first time in history the Muslim Brotherhood will win at least a third (of the seats in parliament). Islamization is taking the place of nationalism," According to Ben-Eliezer, "We are in a situation whereby no one can predict how the new Egyptian leadership will look like (following elections)..We must take into account that we may find ourselves in a confrontation with Egypt. We already have a problem in (north) Sinai - which has clearly become terrorist territory -- (because we cannot operate freely there) as we do in Gaza,"
