Speaking to Ynet ahead of the second and decisive round of Egypt’s presidential election, Egyptians say they believe that the country’s peace treaty with Israel will be maintained regardless of the winner.

The tense battle pits Islamist candidate Mohammad Morsi against secular candidate Ahmad Shafiq, associated with Egypt’s previous regime. With many Egyptians fearing an Islamist takeover, while others concerned about a return to the old regime.

Muhammad, a 20-year-old student from Cairo, told Ynet that he intends to vote for Morsi, as he did in the first round, believing the Islamist candidate will mark Egypt’s salvation.

Morsi hinted in the past that although he opposes normalization with Israel, he has no intention to annul the peace treaty, and Muhammad says he believes him: “We won’t be fighting Israel and will maintain the Camp-David Accord while recognizing a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders…we’ll be securing the border with Israel properly.”

Egypt under Morsi and the Islamic Brotherhood’s leadership will not turn into a religious state like Iran, Muhammad said. “We’ll be a civil society with an Islamic source of authority.”

Issra, a local journalist, says she also intends to vote for Morsi, noting that foreign policy will not be a factor when she casts her ballot. “Ties with Israel are not my top priority,” she said, further reinforcing the feeling among many Egyptians that ties with the Jewish state will not be affected.

Meanwhile, Shafiq supporters believe that he is the right man in the right place. Ibrahim from Port Said says that a win by the secular candidate will not change Egypt’s relations with Israel, while the 20-year-old Shadi from northern Egypt credits the secular candidate for being the only one who agreed to head the government at the end of the Mubarak era.

Mohammad, 20, from Cairo, sums up by saying that he supports Shafiq not because he likes him, but rather, because of his opponent. “As opposed to Shafiq, the Islamic Brotherhood only cares about high-ranking posts and about taking the reins of power,” he says.

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Talks over the restoration of Jewish property confiscated by slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi will commence next year, a Jewish leader said on Wednesday, quoting a high-ranking Libyan government official.

Raphael Luzon, a Libyan-born Jew whose family was forced into exile in 1967, said the general director of the Libyan Prime Minister’s Office promised talks would start after a constitution is drafted in 2013.

“They will start giving back lands taken by Gaddafi from Muslims and then there will be a second wave for Jews,” said Luzon, who just returned from the country where he met with political figures. “Whoever will present official documents will get back the money, but we need another year and only after the second election they will appoint such a man.”

Luzon would not disclose the name of the official he met, but said it was public knowledge in Libya.

Most Libyan Jews left for Israel during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Those who remained were forced out by Gaddafi in the late 1960s leaving their personal assets behind. The flamboyant dictator’s regime also confiscated Jewish communal property, in one case paving a highway over the ancient Jewish cemetery in Tripoli.

Luzon, who lives in the UK and is part of a group of Jews born in Libya with property claims in the country, said the assets involved were considerable.

“I saw files like my father’s who left $10 million, but there are others that left even $100m.,” he said.

Meanwhile, Libya continues to suffer from chronic political instability. General elections now set to take place next month have been postponed several times as violence between tribes has flared. In light of the circumstances the question of Jewish rights remains on the backburner.

David Gerbi, another Jew born in Libya, hastily cut short a visit to Tripoli last year, fearing for his life after he tried to reconsecrate an abandoned synagogue.

He had been in the country several months supporting the opposition to Gaddafi.

The expat Jewish Libyan community has enlisted the help of the US Congress to apply pressure on Tripoli to address its concerns.

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