Egyptian presidential candidates call Israel "enemy," "adversary" at debate

Both pledged to review Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel, a country Abol Fotouh described as an enemy and Moussa called an adversary. As the debate moved to foreign policy in the early hours of the morning, the veteran diplomat Moussa made a gaffe when he called Iran an Arab state…

Facing off for more than four hours in a show broadcast on two privately owned television networks, Moussa and Abol Fotouh sought to trip each other up on questions ranging from their perspective on Islamic sharia law to their views on Israel. They repeatedly accused each other of distorting the facts.

A former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Abol Fotouh portrayed Moussa as a member of the Mubarak government that had corrupted Egypt. “There is a rule that says the that one who created the problem cannot solve it,” said the 60-year old.