Israeli official sees 'shocking' dictatorship in Egypt
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Buy SPH photosJERUSALEM (REUTERS) - A senior Israeli official described Egypt's new government on Friday as a "shocking dictatorial force" and predicted there would be no high-level contacts between the two countries, but the Israeli government distanced itself from his comments.
The remarks by Amos Gilad, a top aide to Defence Minister Ehud Barak, were some of the harshest yet about the rise to prominence of Egypt's new Islamist president Mohamed Mursi, who was elected in June.
Speaking at a security conference, Mr Gilad said the liberal forces behind the uprising which ousted former president Hosni Mubarak in 2011 had evaporated.
"From this democracy what has sprung is a shocking dictatorial force," he said in comments broadcast on Israel Radio. "Where are all the young people who were demonstrating in Tahir Square? They have vanished."
