Egypt's Muslim Brothers brand Israel a 'cancer' Thu Dec 15,12:40 PM ET
The leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest opposition force, called Israel a "cancer" in the Middle East and said its peace treaty with Egypt should be submitted to a referendum.
"I declared that we will not recognize Israel which is an alien entity in the region. And we expect the demise of this cancer soon," Mohammed Mehdi Akef told the state-owned English language Ahram Weekly in an interview published Thursday.
His comments came amid an international outcry over a tirade against Israel by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has said the Holocaust was a "myth" and called for the Jewish state to be relocated as far away as Alaska.
Egypt became the first Arab country to establish diplomatic relations with Israel when it signed a peace treaty in 1979.
But Islamists opposed to the treaty assassinated president Anwar Sadat in 1981 for signing the Camp David accord, and hostility towards the Jewish state remains strong among Egyptians.
Akef stopped short of demanding the peace treaty be scrapped but suggested it should be submitted to a popular vote.
"That is for the people to decide... If I had the power I would put it to the people," he said.
The banned but tolerated Brotherhood won 20 percent of the seats in the 454-strong parliament in month-long elections that wrapped up last week, making it the largest opposition bloc in the house.
Following the unprecedented electoral gains, the United States hinted it might open channels of communication with the Brotherhood, which continues to be anxious about US support for Israel.
"The Muslim Brothers do not recognise Israel... 70 million Egyptians, 300 million citizens in the Arab world and 1.5 billion Muslims across the world do not recognise Israel," Akef said in another interview with the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat pubublished on Sunday.
Most Egyptians are opposed to the development of stronger ties with Israel, particularly because of its continued occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Professional unions have expelled members for visiting the Jewish state and the culture ministry maintains a ban on Israeli participation at international events it hosts such as the Cairo book fair and cinema festival.
Agriculture remains the only sector that has seen close cooperation between Egypt and Israel, with a regular exchange of visits by officials and experts.
Egypt withdrew its ambassor from Tel Aviv in 2000 in protest at Israel's handling of the Palestinian intifada or uprising and appointed a new envoy only a few months ago.
Founded by Hassan al-Banna in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood is the largest Islamic movement in Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country.
The group was banned in 1954 after a failed a attempt on the life of then president Gamal Abdul Nasser, who brutally suppressed the Brotherhood.
The movement, which renounced violence in the 1970s, says it wants to establish a moderate Islamist state in Egypt and has in recent months tried to assuage concerns of the country's Coptic christian minority over its agenda.
Iran's Ahmadinejad stepped up his anti-Israeli rhetoric on Wednesday, triggering international outrage.
"They have invented a myth that Jews were massacred and place this above God, religions and the prophets," declared the right-winger, who took office after a shock election win in June.
In October he said Israel must be "wiped off the map", and last week described it as a "tumour."
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Why do many nations hate Israel?? I don't understand! 
