The Real Threat to Israel and Free Syria: Could It Be the Muslim Brotherhood?
The Muslim Brotherhood has always been a subject of controversy in the Middle East. Based on political Islam, its ideology has been enacted by associated organizations throughout the area; presently, for example, Hamas in Palestine and Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria. The fact is that these groups manage to build on chaos and find their niches in the overall turbulent situation. In Syria, the Brotherhood appears through its intellectual heirs, for instance, Mohammad al-Bashir, who was recently named by the jihadist leader Mohammad al-Julani as the interim Prime Minister. There is no doubt that al-Bashir’s obsession with the late Hassan Banna, the founder of the Brotherhood, means endorsing the group’s ‘radicalization’ project.
Like many Islamist movements, the Muslim Brotherhood, falsely labeled as moderate because of the emphasis on democracy and minority rights, in fact, deplores democracy and secularism. This duplicity is well illustrated by the groups’ past in Syria. They quietly view political systems in the image of moderation and as soon as they become part of it, introduce a strict implementation of shariah. For example, a relation of ex-President of Olmsted’s Union Sheikh Osama El-Rifai with the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and his operations within the Turkish influence proves organizational tendency to dominate regional discourses. You would think they are fighting for the voiceless with their words, but watch how they disrupt stability and peace.
Terrorism and instability have marked the Maronite Christian community, one of the oldest in the world, which after being established in the Middle Ages has lived through persecution and tragedy.
The participation of the Brotherhood in terrorism has caused insecurity in several countries. In Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia this involvement contributed to confusion, not democracy, during the Arab Spring. In Syria, the situation is that the Brotherhood can create a base for Sunni terrorism, which poses a future threat. With jihadist factions and international sponsors in Turkey backing them up, they may turn the area into an operational center that may extend its activity to other states, including Israel. The implications of such trends would be devastating for the stability of the region.
Security Threats to Israel That Favor the Brotherhood
Israel has thus remained vulnerable to such groups because of the closeness of some of them to the Brotherhood. Hamas, the Palestinian branch of the Brotherhood, is a clear example of how the group employs this ideology in calls for war and aggression. After the Syrian civil war, actions aimed at ensuring the security of the state in the territory of Golan Heights were dangerous threats from Islamists supported by the networks connected with the Brotherhood. Turkey’s support for Hamas and its sentiments against Israel add another dimension to the equation, showing the flexibility of the Brotherhood in mobilizing a multitude of enemies against common foes.
Conditions and Countermeasures for Mitigating the Growth of the Brotherhood
Infiltration and radicalization of Muslims as subversives using a violent path present a clear and present danger not only to Israel but also to Free Syria. Their worldview and past behavior can only be associated with the manipulation of the democratic agenda in order to gain power and install hegemonic systems based on neo-fascist readings of Islamic theology. To prevent such groups from emerging, it is therefore necessary to integrate powerful counter-terrorism measures, cooperate with other regional countries, and ensure that their bid to represent themselves as moderate groups is checked. The anti-Morsy protests in Egypt have many valuable lessons, mainly illustrating the risks associated with the Brotherhood’s rise to power.
