Obama Administration signals willingness to accept Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt

From Israel Insider: 

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said a reformed Egyptian government “has to include a whole host of important non-secular actors that give Egypt a strong chance to continue to be (a) stable and reliable partner.” The most important "non-secular actor" by far is the Muslim Brotherhood, parent organization to Hamas, Al-Qaeda and other Islamicist, Jihad-oriented groups. 

Hamas even calls itself the “Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine” and refers to the relationship in its own covenant, which calls for the elimination of Israel and the extension of Islamic law over all "Palestine."

Gibbs claimed that the U.S. government has had no contact with the Muslim Brotherhood because of questions over its commitment to the rule of law, democracy and nonviolence. But the Brotherhood is not listed on U.S. terrorism lists, as are the Hamas and Hezbollah organizations.

And the Obama administration has fostered close relationships with Muslim Brotherhood front organizations and advocates in the United States, inviting them to his parties and conferences and, before his election, accepting the financial contributions they funneled to his campaign. 

The statement by Gibbs was an acknowledgment that even if the new government included groups openly hostile to the United States and Israel, the White House will not let this stand in the way of its wholesale abandonment of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Monday’s statement was a “pretty clear sign that the U.S. isn’t going to advocate a narrow form of pluralism, but a broad one,” said Robert Malley, a Middle East peace negotiator in the Clinton administration.