The third round of Egyptian parliamentary elections are set to begin on Tuesday, and observers believe the Islamist parties will continue their strong showing from the two previous votes.

The elections, for the lower house of parliament, are the first to be held since former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down last Feburary. While Mubarak was a close ally of Israel, the rise of the Islamist and Salafist parties - especially the Muslim Brotherhood - is worrying the Jewish state.

Of particular concern is a Bortherhood statement about holding a popular referendum on the future of the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, which has been one of the cornerstones of Israel's security doctrine.

Popular Egyptian sentiment is calling for renegotiating or even annulling the agreement, signaling a strategic tremor whose effect would be felt in Washington, let alone Israel.

When the matter was discussed by Israel's National Security Council, which advises the prime minister and government, Director Yaakov Amidror expressed concern over what some Israeli officials consider a naive take on the Muslim Brotherhood by U.S. President Barack Obama, a source at the Knesset parliament told Xinhua Tuesday.

Local analysts said that while the new situation in Egypt is of concern to both Israel and the United States, there is little need for Israel to worry that the Obama administration isn't taking the situation seriously.

"The Americans are in a dilemma, because they always want a democratic vote and they have to stick by it," said Prof. Shmuel Sandler of Bar-Ilan University.

However, "Sometimes democracy brings out people who aren't democratic," Sandler added.

NEW POLITICAL ERA

But "They (the United States) should be concerned," Sandler said, "Because with an Islamist government, we might not have a peace agreement. It might collapse because in the peace treaty there is legitimacy for the State of Israel - and from Islamic dogma it's problematic."

The Muslim Brotherhood largely kept to the shadows during the protests in February 2011 that led to the end of Mubarak's 30 years' reign. Under Mubarak, the Brotherhood was banned from political life and its candidates for parliament had to run as independents.

Nevertheless, the experience that the party gained in the past elections are now proving very beneficial, as it has been far better at mobilizing its voters due to a well-established organization, especially compared to many of the liberal groups that were at the forefront during the anti-Mubarak demonstrations, but have since done poorly in the elections.

If the peace treaty were put to a referendum, there is a large possibility that a majority of Egyptians would vote for it to be amended or altered: despite good relations Israel enjoyed with Mubarak, polls say most of the Egyptian people oppose normalization with Israel.

But despite the constitutional changes that have taken place in Cairo during the last year, foreign relations - including the peace agreement with Israel - will remain in the hands of the president.

Presidential elections aren't scheduled to take place until May and it still remains to be seen if the Muslim Brotherhood would field its own candidate or not.

STABLE MILITARY RELATIONS

Prof. Uri Bar-Joseph of the University of Haifa said that notwithstanding the new political situation, the security establishment remains stable, primarily because the Egyptians are dependent on American aid.

"The Egyptians know that, and the Americans probably made it clear to them that if there are any security issues, the future of American aid might be jeopardized," Bar-Joseph said.

The Egyptian army receives an estimated 2 billion U.S. dollars in aid from America. In addition, many of its top officers were trained at American military academies, making the aid absolutely essential to the Egyptian army, according to Bar-Joseph.

Bar-Joseph believes there isn't any particular need for Israel to be nervous or try to change the U.S. approach to post-Mubarak Egypt, because they share the same interests.

"I don't think you need Israel to pressure them. It's a vital American interest, and the Americans have made it clear to the Egyptians - and the Egyptians know it," Bar-Joseph said.