The Middle East is on the path to becoming a single Islamist bloc run by the Muslim Brotherhood, Home front Command Minister and former Shin Bet Chief Avi Dichter said Monday.
Speaking at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism's World Summit, Dichter said "the Arab world in general and in particular the countries neighboring us have begun a long journey that will end with the Middle East being a bloc run by the Muslim Brotherhood, and possibly a single Islamist bloc."
He also spoke about the civil war raging in Syria, saying that it is a question of when, not if, the Assad regime will fall, adding that a massacre of the Alawite sect should be expected in such a case.
Dichter added that of great importance will be whether or not the new regime will be a liberal, secular leadership, or another regime based on the Muslim Brotherhood model.
In addition he asserted that if Iran attains a nuclear weapons it can be expected that Egypt and Saudi Arabia will follow suit.
Closer to home, Hezbollah has between 60 and 70 thousand rockets aimed at Israel, Defense Ministry Diplomatic-Security chief Amos Gilad said Monday, speaking at the same conference as Dichter.
Gilad said the Lebanese terrorist organization has stockpiled rockets of various types, and its arsenal is far more robust than the one it had prior to the Second Lebanon War. "The next war will be aimed against the home front," Gilad warned.
Gilad also blamed Hezbollah for a number of successful and unsuccessful terrorist attacks abroad.
Though admitting that the threat from Lebanon is growing, Gilad was largely optimistic about Israel's security situation, citing positive developments in Syria, Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
"In Syria, there is good news," Gilad said. "The Golan Heights remains the quietest region in the entire Middle East. Our deterrence capabilities are sufficiently, for the time being, keeping out warring parties in Syria." Gilad also warned that al-Qaida is starting to rear its head in Syria, with a view that the fall of Assad will allow it to open a new terror front against Israel.
Turning to Egypt, Gilad said that though there are many terrorist groups actively trying to strike Israel from the Sinai, recently-elected President Mohamad Morsy and his officials remain committed to peace.
Gilad called the situation in Gaza "relatively restrained," with Hamas generally holding other Palestinian terror groups back from striking Israel.
Gilad also stated that Israel is currently not facing a conventional military threat, a massive improvement over Israel's historical security situation.
Focusing on Iran, Professor Uzi Arad, Former National Security Advisor to Benyamin Netanyahu and Head of the National Security Council spoke of the coming year as being critical to future of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear question.
“The first half of 2013 is when things must take place. There must be determination on the part of the Americans to act," Arad said, adding that Israel reserves the right to turn to its allies for help, but also has the obligation to do what it can do and that “one way or another, the Iranian nuclear program will be stopped in 2013.”
Arad said that the issue of “red lines” regarding Iran must be worked on between the U.S. and Iran, but not through a public debate aired out in the media.
The Arab Spring was a common theme at the conference, largely for bringing what speakers portrayed as ongoing disarray and instability to the Middle East.
Eitan Ben-David, Director of Israel’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau, said that as a result of the Arab Spring, Israel can expect increased terrorism directed at its military and civilians "with an emphasis on [terror from] Sinai".
"The threat faced to Israeli citizens traveling in Sinai is severe, as well as the threat posed by Global Jihad, cyber-terror, and unconventional terror," Ben-David added.
Nitzan Nuriel, former Director of the Counter-Terrorism Bureau said “Gaza and Sinai present an operational threat from Eilat to Kerem Shalom and the Gaza Envelope, and this is increasing.”
Nuriel described Sinai as awash in widely-available, cheap firearms and advanced weaponry, and home to a large number of terrorists looking to strike Israel.
Nuriel added that the threat could justify Israel launching the type of security for the southern border that it has on the northern border against the Hezbollah threat.
At the same time, he sounded an optimistic tone, saying that in Gaza and Egypt, there is a government and address that Israel can potentially reach out to.
Alongside the usual Iran and Arab Spring talk, a number of speakers described the dangers facing Israel closer to home, namely, the dangers posed by a failure to reach a diplomatic solution with the Palestinians.
Kadima Head Shaul Mofaz went as far as to say “the threat to Israel of a future bi-national state is greater than the Iran threat,” while former Shin Bet Chief Yaacov Peri said that if there is no breakthrough with the Palestinians, Israel will be on the way to a bi-national state.

By BEN HARTMAN, YONI DAYAN

JPost.com