Israel Matzav

Sinai terrorists drive Israel and Egypt closer together

A report in Haaretz indicates that security cooperation between Israel and Egypt has reached one of the highest levels since the Camp David treaty in 1979 as a result of the terror attack on an Egyptian border police station and attempt to infiltrate into Israel on Sunday.

During an age in which the Muslim Brotherhood controls both houses of Egyptian Parliament, and Mohammed Morsi, one of the moment’s leading figures in Egypt serves as president, the level of security cooperation between the two nations has undergone a significant upgrade, right under the nose of the Israeli and Egyptian publics.

The Israeli side doesn’t like to discuss it much, obviously. It is a sensitive subject that “could damage the relations between the two nations.” Senior officials on both sides however, admit that it is hard for them to remember a time when ties between the security establishments of the two countries were tighter than they are now.

Their comments sound almost astonishing when we think back to the raging protests in Egypt, the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador, and the hostile articles in the Egyptian press in which the Muslim Brotherhood blamed the Israeli Mossad for the terrorist attack that killed 16 Egyptian policemen near Kerem Shalom.

Regardless, we see evidence of the “renewed honeymoon” of Israeli-Egyptian security relations on a daily basis: Passing along of warnings for possible attacks (such as the most recent one near Kerem Shalom), talks between senior officers in the field, and of course the continuous line of discussion between the Egyptian Ministry of Defense and General Intelligence Service and the Israeli Defense Minsitry, Shin Bet, IDF, and Mossad. The appointment of a new intelligence minister in the place of Murad Muwafi should only strengthen the ties between the two sides.

Now don't go jumping for joy yet - although the Egyptians are angry at the Gazans for the attack, there is really no evidence yet that they plan to exercise tight control over Northern Sinai. But Jonathan Kay reports in Canada's National Post that Gaza is more isolated than ever.

The terrorist infestation in Sinai is fueled by local Islamist agitation, but if features a co-mingling of personnel and armaments from nearby Gaza. There is also a common anti-Israel agenda binding Islamists in the two theatres: After staging their massacre on Sunday, the Sinai terrorists rode captured armoured cars into Israel — a short-lived joyride that reportedly ended with their immediate dispatch to “martyrdom” by the Israeli military.

The attack might rank as one of the most unsuccessful terrorist attacks in recent memory, as its only evident result, apart from 16 dead Egyptian soldiers, was the tightening of security ties between Egypt and Israel against a common enemy, and the further isolation of Gaza. This week, prices reportedly skyrocketed in the territory, as Gazans were unable to buy the goods that till now have streamed in through a network of tunnels, which, as noted, the Egyptians now have closed.

Boo. Hoo. Maybe it's time for Gazans to rise up against Hamas. What could go wrong?

Labels: Egypt, Gaza, Islamic terrorism, smuggling tunnels

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:49 PM