EGYPT: Check your dictionary. . .

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The statement was oddly out of character. It seemed like a misprint. Essam El-Erian, a prominent member of Egypt’s radical Muslim Brotherhood, announced something one doesn’t usually hear from a hardened Islamist.

‘If we come to power, we will recognize Israel and respect all treaties,’ El-Erian recently told Al-Hayat, a respected Pan-Arabic daily. The statement hung in the political air like a strange balloon, eliciting furrowed brows and bewilderment all around.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s aim is to establish Sharia law and a return to the caliphate -- hardly aspirations that would suggest taking a moderate stand toward a nation many Islamists wish to annihilate or bury in the sea. The comments had to be paid attention to, however. El-Erian is a leader in the Muslim Brotherhood’s dovish camp, but he has been jailed several times for his Islamist views. His credentials are in tact.

Still, what was going on here? Did the comment reflect an ideological shift in the organization? Most likely not. It appears to be an effort by younger brotherhood members to appeal to secular intellectuals and the West. It also comes amid a government crackdown against the group, which won nearly 20 percent of the seats in the Egyptian parliament in 2005, that has resulted in hundreds of arrests.

Sensing that some might think the brotherhood was going soft, the organization’s Supreme Guide Mohammed Mahdi Akef set the record straight:

‘The Muslim Brotherhood dictionary does not have the word Israel.’

— Noha El-Hennawy and Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo