Muslim Brotherhood offered assurances on treaty, State Dept. says

January 6, 2012

(JTA) -- The Muslim Brotherhood assured the United States it would not break Egypt's peace treaty with Israel, according to the U.S. State Department.

A State Department spokesperson said Thursday that the Islamist political party had offered assurances it would not break Egypt's 1979 accord with Israel, despite statements to the contrary by a party leader.

"We have had other assurances from the party with regard to their commitment not only to universal human rights, but to the international obligations that the government of Egypt has understaken," Victoria Nuland told reporters in Washington.

The rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in the wake of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's departure from power has raised concerns that political reform in the Arab world's most populous country could lead to the emergence of a hostile regime that would depart from its historic peace accord with the Jewish state.

In an interview published Sunday, Rashad Bayoumi, the party's deputy leader, said the group will not recognize Israel "under any circumstance."

Asked about Bayoumi's comment, Nuland said he was but one member of the Muslim Brotherhood and that the party would be judged by what it does.