Israel has "clear information that Hamas is supporting the Wilayat
Sinai, which belongs to Daesh," Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the
coordinator of government activities in the territories, claimed,
referring to the Islamic State group in one of its acronyms.
He added that Hamas provided the Islamist group
weapons and logistical support, and even smuggled wounded militants for
treatment in the Gaza Strip. "I am confident in this [information] and I
have proof," he said.
The IDF has decided that this entire story is too close for comfort: Route 12 near the Egyptian border will be closed from 5:00 am Friday Israel time.
The decision was made by Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon with the
recommendation of IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot. The closing
of the road was defined by the military as temporary.
One of the attacks was carried out only four
kilometers from the border with Israel, an officer in the IDF Southern
Command said on Thursday. In response, the Israeli military has
intensified its intelligence gathering efforts in the area.
Temporary until what? Until ISIS is defeated? Until Hamas stops supporting them? Doesn't sound like much of a plan, does it?
The Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Egypt reopened on
Thursday after it was closed for 24 hours due to the battles raging in
Sinai. However, the Nitzana crossing remained closed.
The real question is whether the Gaza crossings are open - and if yes, why?
It starts: Movement behind Morsi ouster calls on army to renounce Camp David, refuse US money
Last week, President Obama canceled a military exercise with Egypt in response to the crackdown on his friends in the Muslim Brotherhood. Obama complained that the exercise could not go on as 'business as usual.'
In response, the Tamarod movement, which was behind the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood and Mohammed Morsy, has called on the Egyptian army to renounce the Camp David treaty and refuse all further US aid.
Tamarod, who played a major role in the ousting of Egyptian President
Mohamed Morsi, demand the Egyptian regime to hold a referendum on
banning US aid, cancel the peace agreement with Israel, and reword
security-related treaties to allow Egypt to revive its national
sovereignty.
The movement claims that Israeli and international
peacekeeping forces in Sinai prevent the Egyptian military from sending
more forces to the peninsula to stop terrorist activity in the area.
Daily
News Egypt quotes the movement's media coordinator Mai Wahba as saying
the campaign will collect signatures from people, and that there was no
timetable for the campaign yet.
The "No to US aid" campaign has already gathered 300,000 signatures.
Ironically, most Israelis would like to see the Muslim Brotherhood crushed.
Israel
has opted to stay silent on the turmoil in Egypt to avoid disrupting
strategic security cooperation with the Egyptian military.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had aides instruct cabinet
ministers to avoid public comment about Egypt, according to an official
who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"Israel and the United States
see the situation in Egypt very, very differently and justifiably the
prime minister wouldn't want Israeli cabinet ministers to publicly
criticize American policy," Giora Eiland, a former national security
adviser, said on Channel 2.
In private, one senior Israeli
official expressed alarm at US President Barack Obama's condemnation of
the bloodshed in Egypt and cancellation of a joint military exercise
with Cairo.
"Eyebrows have been raised," the official said.
Many Israeli officials believe that Egyptian Army chief Abdel Fatteh al-Sisi has no choice but to crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood.
Egyptian security forces have killed dozens of armed men and arrested
hundreds more as part of a crackdown on extremist cells operating in
the Sinai Peninsula, pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat reported on Thursday.
At least 32 Hamas
fighters that entered Sinai through underground smuggling tunnels and
joined the cells were among those arrested, according to the report.
...
Hamas officials have renounced involvement in any activities in Sinai,
while Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, has declared several times
that his organization would not interfere in internal Egyptian affairs.
Egypt is seeking permission to send thousands of soldiers to Sinai,
in order to battle Islamist groups that have ensconced themselves there
after fleeing Egypt's major cities. The Times of London said that
Egyptian's military rulers had filed the request for a major deployment
in Sinai earlier this week.
According to the Camp David Accords, in which Israel surrendered
Sinai, liberated in the Six Day War, to Egypt, only police and other
peace officers are allowed in Sinai without the permission of Israel and
the U.S., also a signatory of the agreement. That tenet of the Accords
essentially demilitarized Sinai, although Egypt has several times in the
past sent in army troops to deal with specific security situations.
The current request would see the largest number of Egyptian troops
in Sinai since the Yom Kippur War, and their mission would be more
open-ended. Many Islamists, members of the Muslim Brotherhood and other
groups, have fled Cairo and Alexandria in recent days as the army clamps
down on their movements, in the wake of the deposing of former
President Mohammed Morsi.
Egypt has already sent several brigades of troops into Sinai, but
military officials say much more force is needed, as the soldiers are
facing heavily armed terror groups affiliated with Al Qaeda. On
Wednesday, Al Qaeda terrorists killed a soldier and civilian in Sinai,
while Islamist groups fired missiles at an Egyptian army outpost in
Sinai, killing two soldiers and injuring six.
According to the report, Israel is inclined to grant the request. The question is how we ensure that those guns aren't turned against us. But so far, it seems good that Morsy and the Muslim Brotherhood are gone.
Will Egypt try to save itself by going to war with Israel?
Lee Smith reminds us that - Wednesday's events notwithstanding - the Egyptian army is not a popular institution in that country, and wonders whether the army might not set off a war with Israel in a bid to distract the population from its economic problems and possibly even gain some international aid.
The bigger problem is that the Egyptian army
has no plan to stabilize the country. And even if the army takes over,
what price is it willing to pay to keep the streets quiet? Shooting
protesters? How many? Egyptians, contrary to received wisdom, do not
love the army, or else hundreds of people wouldn’t have flashed laser lights
at a military helicopter the other night in an effort to blind the
pilot and crash it. The army can’t bring order because the energies
unleashed with the fall of Mubarak two-plus years ago can’t be put back
in the bottle.
The Egyptian army has only one card left to play. Western journalists and other true believers in the promise of the Arab Spring
may be shocked by the suggestion that Egypt may be headed to war with
Israel in the not-too-distant future. But as the country implodes, war
has become the easy way out. It doesn’t matter that the Egyptian army
doesn’t want another catastrophic contest with Israel—neither did Anwar
Sadat 40 years ago when he saved Egypt by going to war with Israel,
which in turn helped him acquire the superpower patronage of the United
States.
...
Egyptians are definitely angry at the state
of their country’s economy. But the fact that staples like bread, rice
and oil have skyrocketed is to be blamed almost entirely on the fact
that protesters have filled the streets since January 2011. In bringing
down Mubarak and prosecuting the regime’s technocrats who won high marks
from the IMF for reforming the Egyptian economy and attracting foreign
direct investment, the revolutionaries ensured that it would be at least
a generation before any Egyptian official sought to implement the same
policies.
It was in order to avoid unrest that Morsi balked at cutting
subsidies and otherwise reforming the economy to satisfy the IMF’s
requirements for a $4.8 billion loan. If Qatar wasn’t floating
the Morsi government a few billion dollars every couple of months,
Egypt would starve. And how do the Egyptians repay Doha’s munificence?
By claiming that Morsi’s fall will return Qatar to its proper and,
compared to Egypt, insignificant place
in regional affairs. Maybe Qatar’s newly enthroned emir will decide
he’d rather build more air-conditioned soccer stadiums than feed the
inhabitants of the Nile River valley.
...
A competent leader, likely not Morsi, will
soon come to see that he has no choice but to make a virtue of necessity
and export the one commodity that Egypt has in abundance—violence. So,
why not bind the warring, immature, and grandiose Egyptian factions
together in a pact against Israel, the country’s sole transcendent
object of loathing? Indeed, it’s not entirely clear why Egypt’s venomous
strains of anti-Zionist, anti-Semitic sentiment have not yet hit fever
pitch.
Yes, Morsi doesn’t want to get the White House angry. And there’s
also the obvious fact that Egyptians are too divided against themselves
right now to be unified against anyone else. But that can’t last for
long, or else Egypt will implode.
So, here are the facts that Egyptians and Western reporters alike
would rather not face: There is simply no way that today’s Egypt can
feed its own people, or fuel the tractors that harvest its crops—let
alone attract tens of billions of dollars in foreign investment to grow a
hi-tech miracle along the banks of the Nile. That’s fantasyland
stuff—like the fantasy of an American-style constitutional democracy run
by the Muslim Brotherhood and guaranteed by the Egyptian army.
So, what’s left? A short war today—precipitated by a border incident
in Sinai, or a missile gone awry in the Gaza Strip, and concluded before
the military runs out of the ammunition that Washington will surely not
resupply—will reunify the country and earn Egypt money from an
international community eager to broker peace. Taking up arms against
Israel will also return Egypt to its former place of prominence in an
Arab world that is adrift in a sea of blood. But even more important is
the fact that there is no other plausible way out: Sacrificing thousands
of her sons on the altar of war is the only way to save Mother Egypt
from herself.
The scenario of Egypt going to war with Israel reminds me of The Mouse that Roared. But there are two small differences. Israel is not a superpower. And Egypt's economy requires a lot more help than just about any country in the world can give.
Israel close to finalizing rail alternative to Suez Canal
As an alternative to the violence-plauged Suez Canal, Israel is on the verge of finalizing a rail route (Hat Tip: Ricky G).
Israel is close to finalising the route of a rail alternative to the Suez Canal as instability in Egypt has added to the urgency of a project to connect the Mediterranean with the Red Sea.
Last month 40 people were killed in protests in the three big Egyptian cities lining the canal, and some shipping groups had to suspend work for several days. President Morsi has warned of a “collapse of the State” if protests continue. Fees for using the canal are Egypt’s only reliable source of foreign currency, bringing in about $5 billion (£3.22 billion) of revenue a year.
Israeli officials have publicly denied suggestions that the plan threatens Egypt’s monopoly of one of the world’s most important trade routes. But privately they admitted that they were being asked to plan for the “day after” a closure of the canal.
“There are a number of scenarios that we need to prepare for, including the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt being challenged, or groups attempting to seize control of Suez in one of the ongoing protests there,” one senior Israeli official involved in the project said. “Israel, and the rest of the world, can’t sit around and wait for the day to come where we can’t transport goods between Asia and Europe. We have to create other channels.”
The project, funded by the Chinese Government, would include the construction of a port on the Red Sea coast near the Israeli city of Eilat, and a double-track railway line capable of carrying heavy cargo to the Israeli port of Ashdod on the Mediterranean coast.
Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, has declared it a “national priority” as it would transform Israel into a major player in global shipping. Building on the project, expected to take a decade, could begin this year.
Shipping companies said that Egypt’s military has maintained a strong presence around the canal to ensure that trade is not affected by the protests.
However, Gil Miller, managing director in Israel for the shipping group Maersk Line, said that while neither Maersk nor its big competitors wanted to find an alternative to Suez, recent events had forced them to consider “contingency plans”.
“The few days of disruptions ... were concerning, but manageable. We have, however, prepared other options for our company that can be activated in a short time and we are looking at the route being built in Israel,” Mr Miller said.
Israeli media have estimated that construction of the rail line alone would cost $2 billion, and the enlargement of the ports near Eilat and Ashdod could cost billions more.
An Israeli diplomat said that there was a great deal of interest in the project in China and India, as well as other countries in the region that he could not name due to “sensitivity”.
This week Israel’s Government heard final plans for the route through Israel, which environmentalists claim would cause irreparable damage and be a source of pollution. Israeli officials said that they would hear objections to the route before approving the plans.
Eran Feitelson, a transport expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, wrote in Haaretz newspaper: “For Egypt, the Suez Canal is an essential artery for economic survival; we are trying to create a threat to this artery.”
So is their problem environmental impact (we're talking about a rail line, not a highway!) or is their problem the financial impact on Egypt (in which case the answer is that we are not required to let Egypt maintain a stranglehold on us, and if we are able to make money while escaping it, all the better).
IDF soldier killed bringing food and water to illegal immigrants
The IDF soldier who was killed on Friday afternoon was apparently giving water to illegal immigrants being held at the Egyptian-Israeli border. At least one government minister would like to put a stop to that practice.
The IDF must immediately ban all contact between IDF soldiers and
African ‘infiltrators’, which poses a threat to their lives, Interior
Minister Eli Yishai said on Sunday.
“The IDF must put forward a
procedure that bans contact with infiltrators - the life of an IDF
soldier is not cheap,” Yishai said, before drawing a comparison between
the ban and one which restricts IDF soldiers from hitchhiking.
“We must treat the infiltrators issue just as we did with
hitchhiking, which IDF soldiers were allowed to do until it was
determined that it poses a danger to their lives.”
On Friday, it was reported that 20-year-old IDF Corporal Natanel Yahalomi was shot and killed
by terrorists in the Sinai peninsula after he and other soldiers had
left a fortified position to give water to a group of migrants on the
Egypt-Israel border.
“The cries of human rights organizations are preferable to the cries of bereaved families,” Yishai said.
Despite
the initial reports about the shootout on Friday, during a visit to
Yahalomi’s family Saturday night, Colonel Guy Biton, commander of the
IDF brigade which patrols in the area along the border where the
incident happened Friday said that initial IDF investigations have
determined “that there is no connection between the presence of the
infiltrators at the border and the incident with the terrorists,” Army
Radio reported on Sunday.
Nonetheless, the IDF has issued
instructions for troops serving at the border to exercise greater
caution when dealing with migrants at the border, due to the fear that
terrorists may exploit their presence to slip in undetected.
Despite the denial, it sounds like the story is true. I'm with Yishai on this one. We should not be risking IDF soldiers' lives like that.
A heavily armed terrorist cell from the Sinai Peninsula opened fire
on IDF soldiers on the Israeli - Egyptian border on Friday, killing one
soldier and injuring a second, before the gunmen were killed in return
fire.
Shots were fired at IDF Artillery Corps soldiers from a
distance of 100 meters. One soldier sustained a bullet wound to the head
and was killed immediately, IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai
said. The soldier has not yet been named.
The Artillery Corps force instantly returned fire, shooting dead one terrorist.
As
the gun-battle raged, reinforcements from the Karkal (Wildcat) battlion
- a combat unit made up of male and female soldiers - quickly arrived
on the scene, and stormed the gunmen. The battalion, which had been in
the area to look out for illegal African migrants, engaged the
terrorists and killed the remaining two attackers.
In the heavy
exchanges of fire, a suicide bomb belt around one of the terrorists went
off. Shrapnel from that blast lightly injured a soldier from the
Artillery Corps. He was taken to the Soroka Medical Center in
Be'ersheba, where doctors operated on him.
...
IDF sappers recovered a large number of firearms and explosives from
the terrorists ater the incident, including and RPD machine gun, a
rocket propelled grenade, Kalashnikov guns, ammunition, grenades, and
personal equipment. The terrorists were dressed in civilian clothing.
The
attack occurred along a 17 kilometer stretch of the border where the
fence has not yet been completed, in the Har Harif area.
"We don't believe this was a kidnapping attempt. There are no terrorists in Israeli territory," Mordechai added.
Highway 10 along the Egyptian border was shut down Thursday night - apparently due to intelligence about this attack.
According to a Maariv report this morning, Israel has told Egypt that it must remove its tanks from the Sinai Peninsula as their continued deployment is in contravention of the peace treaty between the two countries.
According to the report, the message was sent via the White House in an effort to give the warning extra weight, as the relationship between Israel and Egypt has been strained since the overthrow of Egypt’s former President Hosni Mubarak.
On Monday, an Egyptian security source told Reuters that Cairo would begin to deploy tanks, aircraft and artillery in the Sinai in a bid to root terrorist elements out of the Peninsula. The move constitutes an unprecedented military presence in the Sinai, which has been demilitarised since the signing of the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.
Earlier this month Israel did agree to an increased Egyptian troop presence in the Sinai as part of Cairo’s clean-up operation against terrorist operating from the Peninsula.
It will be interesting (to put it mildly) to see how Egypt reacts to this.
“We are talking about missiles: anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles that the Egyptian Army has introduced into Sinai, according to reports, in violation of the peace treaty between the two states,” declared Eran Singer, Arab Affairs commentator of The Voice of Israel Radio.
“This is something that is happening these recent days,” added Singer, who did not mention his sources, but it is likely the information came from the Israeli army (IDF).
Putting missiles along Israel’s border, without Israel’s permission, was one of the central factors leading up to the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, when Egypt used the cover of anti-aircraft missiles to attack on Yom Kippur.
But the commentator says that the missile move is only the most visible part of sweeping changes in Egypt since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, the pro-US autocrat who led Egypt for 30 years.
“Morsi is now the head of the executive branch, and he appoints and dissolves governments in Egypt, [but] he is also the legislative branch in the absence of a parliament. and [can] … enact any law he wants.,” said Dr. Guy Bechor, one of Israel’s top Arab affairs experts.
“The new Egyptian leader is also in charge of foreign policy, domestic policy, security, economy and more,” added Bechor, who specializes in legal and journalistic analysis of Arab society at the Interdisciplinary Center of Herzliya.
“He finalizes international agreements, interprets the constitution, and has the power to appoint a taskforce that will draft a new constitution. And so, after a year and a half of semi-anarchy, Egypt is once again a country ruled by one person – a dictatorship.”
Bechor said “the current dictatorship is even harsher than Mubarak’s, whose decisions were reached together with parliament, political parties and the courts. Here we are talking about one man who controls everything.”
Avi Yissacharoff, Arab affairs reporter for Haaretz newspaper, agreed, noting that Morsi had effectively become the king of Egypt.
In case you're wondering, Israel's leaders are remaining silent about this, hoping it will just go away....
Aren't you glad we got rid of Mubarak? Aren't you glad that Egypt is now a 'democratic' country? What could go wrong?
A spokesman for the Islamist president announced on television that the ejection of top military figures associated with the old regime represented the completion of the Egyptian revolution.
The spokesman added that a constitutional declaration passed by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which forbade the president making military appointments, was canceled.
The council seized power after Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, and dissolved Egypt’s lower house of parliament after it came under the control of Islamist representatives through elections.
Tantawi and Enan were given honorary roles as advisers, the spokesman said, before announcing that the heads of the Egyptian Air Force, air defense system, and Navy had also been ejected from their posts.
Although their replacements are expected to be secular security figures like their predecessors, the move is widely seen as a signal by the Muslim Brotherhood that power is now firmly concentrated in the hands of the Islamist civilian government.
It was not clear how far the measures were agreed upon with the dismissed Tantawi, nor how far they would shift the power balance between the generals and Morsy’s long-suppressed Muslim Brotherhood.
A member of the military council told Reuters that Morsy, a moderate Islamist popularly elected in June but with constitutional powers sharply circumscribed in advance by the generals, had consulted Tantawi, 76, and Enan, 64, the military chief of staff, before ordering both men to retire.
However, coupled with the cancellation of the constitutional declaration issued just before Morsy’s election, the surprise move seemed to indicate a substantial reordering of Egypt’s political forces as it waits for a new constitution after six decades of unbroken army rule.
Hmmm.
DEBKA reported that Egyptian tanks have advanced to Israel's border. I haven't been able to confirm that from any other source. Egypt does have 60 M-60 tanks in Sinai, but those aren't necessarily on Israel's border.
The IDF has asked for NIS 15 billion to prepare to defend a 'fourth front': Egypt (Hat Tip: Ricky G).
Analysts said that the new situation in Egypt necessitates the opening of a “fourth front” for the IDF. For decades, security along the southern border has been more relaxed, because of the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, and the IDF was able to concentrate on trouble spots like Gaza and the northern border, as well as “distance missions.” Egypt's new President, Mohammed Morsi, who is identified with the Muslim Brotherhood, has said several times that he wishes to “reexamine” the Camp David Accords. Given his party's open hostility to Israel and its strong support for Hamas, Israel has decided that it can no longer regard the Egyptian border as a “normal” one.
A senior IDF official told the Israeli daily Ma'ariv that while no one expects Egypt to abrogate the Camp David Accords, the new situation requires extreme caution. And thanks to three decades of American military aid and support, the Egyptian army today is extremely sophisticated, and is equipped with the latest equipment, making it, for all purposes, a Western-type army, the official said. Egypt also has the largest army in Africa; it has about 470,000 regular troops and some 480,000 reserve troops. The IDF, by way of comparison, has 180,000 active duty soldiers, and about 560,000 reserve troops.
The IDF will ask for the NIS 15 billion increase to be funded over a five year period. Without this money, officials said, it will be impossible to upgrade the IDF's souther flank, making the country dependent on the graces of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. In a statement, an IDF official would not comment directly on the funding issue, saying that “as a matter of course the IDF is studying the changes in the region, and specifically in Egypt.”
The IDF has deployed Armored forces near the Israel-Egypt border, moving tanks closer to the fence, Ynet has learned. The unusual move followed Monday's terror attack on defense contractor crews building the new security fence.
The attack claimed the life of Said Phashpashe, 36, from Haifa. Golani soldiers who were scrambled to the area killed two terrorists.
Ynet was able to document the presence of Israeli tanks in close proximity to the border – maneuvers which are barred by Jerusalem's peace treaty with Cairo.
The last time the IDF boosted its front-line combat vehicle presence in the sector was in August 2011, following a murderous terror attack by the Islamic Jihad, which left nine Israelis dead.
At the time, the military deployed several armored personnel carriers along the border, as part of the heightened security measures in the sensitive area.
But maybe it's not a violation of the treaty after all.
Ynet's chief military commentator Ron Ben Yishai noted that several months ago, Israel and Egypt arrived at an agreement by which Cairo would be able to deploy 20 tanks near the border, to ward off attacks by Bedouins on Egyptian forces, despite the fact that such a move contradicts the peace treaty.
It is likely that the deal also allowed Israel to do the same in favor of increased protection for the area's communities.
Oh.... Never mind.... By the way, how can you violate a 'peace treaty' that the other side has already broken? Isn't Egypt supposed to be responsible for preventing terror attacks from Sinai?
Q. I have seen reports of virulent anti-Semitism and anti-Israel hate speech at rallies of presidential candidates. Could you please let us know about these activities which appear to be highly disturbing. A. A concerned citizen in New York asks about campaign rally rhetoric about Israel and possible anti-Semitism. I have not seen or heard any slurs against Jews on the campaign trail, and I do not think that has figured in the campaign in any way. Israel is a more complicated issue. All the leading candidates have pledged to respect Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel. But Egyptians — secular and liberal or Islamist — are deeply hostile to Israel. The overwhelming feeling here is that Israel has failed to live up to its end of the Camp David accords leading to the peace treaty because it has not recognized a Palestinian state and instead allows settlements to continue on territory envisioned as part of that state. An episode last summer fired up the hard feelings anew because Israeli war planes killed a handful of Egyptian security officers inside the border when Israel was pursuing some suspected terrorists; Israeli officials initially refused to apologize and Egyptians stormed the Israeli embassy. But eventually Israel apologized, pledged an investigation and the situation calmed down. So most candidates have sought to balance their commitments to the peace (which is popular) and some criticism of Israel (which most here consider an enemy.) It may be interesting to note which candidates are most hostile to Israel. Not the Islamists. Mohamed Morsi and Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh are relatively positive about the importance of the peace. By far the most hostile to Israel and even the treaty is Hamdeen Sabahi, a Nasserite socialist with support from Egypt’s secular-liberal and cultural elite.
Ceremony leader : Banish the sleep from the eyes of all Jews. Come on, you lovers of martyrdom, you are all Hamas. From the eyes of all Jews... Come on, you lovers of martyrdom, you are all Hamas. Banish the sleep from the eyes of all Jews. Come on, you lovers of martyrdom, you are all Hamas. Forget about the whole world, forget about all the conferences. Brandish your weapons... Say your prayers... Brandish your weapons... Say your prayers... And pray to the Lord. From the eyes of all Jews... Come on, you lovers of martyrdom... Banish the sleep from the eyes of all Jews. Come on, you lovers of martyrdom, you are all Hamas.
Kirkpatrick denies the presence of antisemitism, and even answers that, if it does exist, it's not an important part of the campaign. And to deflect any blame from the Muslim Brotherhood he mentions Hamdeen Sahabi, who is even more anti-Israel than they are. Then he inserts his own judgments that it isn't Jews that are hated in Egypt, but Israel, and Kirkpatrick seemingly supports the objections to Israel. ("overwhelming feeling here is that Israel has failed to live up to its end of the Camp David accords") He doesn't mention that Egypt got the entire Sinai back from Israel. And he effectively blames Israel for chasing ("suspected"!) terrorists who had infiltrated Israel last year.
But the remarks were almost as significant for where they were made: in Cairo, at Al Azhar Mosque. During the years in which Syria supported Hamas, Egypt’s leaders were hostile to the group, treating it as a despised relative of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was also tagged an outlaw and banned. So Mr. Haniya’s remarks in Egypt served as another measure of how much has changed since popular uprisings began to sweep the region, removing President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and now trying to topple Mr. Assad. Mr. Haniya’s comments confirmed a distance between Hamas and Damascus that emerged several weeks ago when the group’s leadership abandoned its longtime base in Syria as the environment there became more violent. The remarks, which were seen as the group’s official position because of Mr. Haniya’s role, reflected a progressively deeper split with Mr. Assad. Hamas also recently allowed residents of Gaza to stage protests against Mr. Assad and in support of the uprising.
Haniyeh's statements are presented as a sign that Hamas was abandoning its extreme positions; that it was rejecting Iran. (This has less to do with an moderating than with a Sunni rejection of its former Shi'ite patron. That was enabled by support from Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.)
Haniyeh continued, saying,"Our hope is not only the independence of Palestine, but the independence of the Islamic nation [where we will] put an end to the current situation of political wilderness, cultural and foreign interference and encroachment of the Zionists." He said that there was a Zionist plot for the Judaization of Jerusalem which wrested it from the Arab and Muslim world it belongs to, calling on Muslims to support Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem. Hundreds of congregants chanted in response, saying, 'Khaybar Khaybar oh Jews, the army of Mohammed will return," and "We, sons of Hassan al-Banna .. Islam! Islam!" (Hassan al-Banna was the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood.)
The language of Haniyeh does not differ significantly from that of the Muslim Brotherhood.
This speech took place several weeks after an earlier visit by Haniyeh to Egypt in which he made common cause the Muslim Brotherhood. Barry Rubin wrote at the time:
Haniyeh described Hamas as the Palestinian branch of the Brotherhood. Referring to their alliance Haniyeh said, “Our presence with the Brotherhood threatens the Israeli entity.” It certainly does since Hamas will enjoy the Brotherhood’s full support in its anti-Israel activities including the use of violence and, probably, in the event of any future war with Israel.
The intervention in the Palestinian issue is the clearest indication yet that as it moves into a position of authority, the Brotherhood, the largest vote getter in Egypt’s parliamentary elections, intends to both moderate its positions on foreign policy and reconfigure Egypt’s. Brotherhood officials say that they are pulling back from their previous embrace of Hamas and its commitment to armed struggle against Israel in order to open new channels of communications with Fatah, which the Brotherhood had previously denounced for collaborating with Israel and accused of selling out the Palestinian cause. Brotherhood leaders argue that if they persuade the Palestinians to work together with a newly assertive Egypt, they will have far more success forcing Israel to bargain in earnest over the terms of statehood. “Now we have to deal with the Palestinian parties as an umbrella for both of them, and we have to stand at an equal distance from each,” said Reda Fahmy, a Brotherhood leader who oversees its Palestinian relations and is now chairman of the Arab affairs committee in Egypt’s upper house of Parliament. “Any movement of the size of the Muslim Brotherhood, when it is in the opposition it is one thing and then when it comes to power it is something completely different.”
The Muslim Brotherhood's outreach to Fatah isn't a sign of moderation. It is trying to get Fatah to reconcile with Hamas and (presumably) to have Hamas be the senior partner. This isn't about getting Israel to negotiations but to legitimize Hamas. Kirkpatrick apparently feels this is a sign of moderation and a good thing.
3) The trend of terrorism
In January, Ehud Ya'ari observed that the Sinai was now a "new front" that Israel had to consider from a military standpoint. The tribes there were sympathetic to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.
At first, last August's terror attack from Egypt appeared to be an isolated incident. The events of the past few days suggest that more is to come.
Israel experts have warned that cross-border attacks by militant groups operating there could drag Israel and Egypt into confrontation and seriously undermine the decades-old peace treaty between those countries. Early on Saturday, two rockets landed in open areas in southern Israel that were presumed by Israel to have been fired from the Sinai Peninsula. "We see here a disturbing deterioration in Egyptian control in the Sinai,” Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, said on Monday. “We are waiting for the results of the election. Whoever wins, we expect them to take responsibility for all of Egypt's international commitments, including the peace treaty with Israel and the security arrangements in the Sinai, swiftly putting an end to these attacks." In the past, Israel has blamed Palestinian militant groups in Gaza for having orchestrated attacks from across the Egyptian border and such incidents have spiraled into fighting across the Israel-Gaza border with rounds of Israeli airstrikes and Palestinian rocket fire against southern Israel.
The careful language here is incredible. "[C]ould drag," "Israel has blamed," and "have spiraled into fighting," (if the terror attacks were not responded to, that wouldn't be "fighting?") obfuscate a sustained campaign against Israel.
More details of today's attack (and less obfuscation) are available at the IDF Spokesperson's blog.
Throughout the morning, Israeli civilians living in the area were on high alert. There was speculation that a third terrorist had infiltrated into Israel and was planning further attacks. Residents of the area were told to stay in their homes and not send their children to school. Roads in the area, including Route 12, were closed to civilian traffic. Once IDF forces in the area determined that there was not a third suspect, the roads were reopened and local residents were permitted to leave their homes. It is possible that part of the terrorist squad remained on the Egyptian side of the border. In addition to the terrorist attack on the Israel-Egypt border, a rocket landed in southern Israel overnight — and two more struck the morning before. More than one million Israelis live under the daily threat of rocket attacks in southern Israel.
At any rate, we are now at the beginning of Egypt’s involvement, directly or indirectly, in a new wave of terrorist assault on Israel. If the Muslim Brotherhood takes over Egypt, a likelihood made less probable perhaps by the military’s dissolution of parliament, this offensive will enjoy official support. Even if the army remains in control, the Brotherhood and Salafists will use their considerable assets to back this new insurgency war. The ultimate scenario would be if Hamas decided to renew a large-scale offensive against Israel from the Gaza Strip using rockets, mortars, and attempted cross-border attacks. Egyptian Islamists would send volunteers and money. The Egyptian army would not be scrupulous in stopping the smuggling of weapons, terrorists, and money across the border. As Egyptian fighters are killed in the Gaza Strip the hysteria in Egypt would escalate. In such a scenario, the army would also allow Hamas to have military bases and headquarters on Egyptian territory, where Israel could not attack them. Indeed, this is already happening. And the Egypt-Israel border would not be protected from cross-border attacks.
Now that terrorist actions are matching the rhetoric of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, maybe the New York Times will start paying attention. Maybe, but not likely.
A contractor has been killed and at least one other contractor has been injured in a terror attack on contractors building the border fence along the Egyptian border. The attack took place along Highway 10 where the fence - designed to block smuggling of weapons and illegal immigrants - is being constructed. As of this writing, at least one terrorist has been killed, but the IDF is searching for additional terrorists it believes are loose in the vicinity and residents of the area are confined to their homes. An earlier report said that three terrorists had been killed, but the IDF has apparently walked that one back.
It was not immediately clear if the gunmen crossed through from Egypt or from the southern Gaza Strip.
The IDF is currently searching for additional terrorists that are suspected of infiltrating into Israel. One officer said the cell likely consisted of four terrorists. The IDF has ordered all residents in the area to remain inside their homes and schools were closed for the time being.
This appeared to be most sophisticated attack since the attack last August along the border which killed eight Israelis. The IDF is working to rule out the possibility that the terrorists entered Israel in an attempt to kidnap an Israeli civilian or soldier.
According to available details, the terrorists opened fire, fired an RPG rocket and attempted to use roadside bombs against two defense contractor crews building the new border fence.
The incident took place in the border's "dune sector," in proximity to the Philadelphi Route, a narrow 14km road stretching between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
Note that this time, no one can claim that we're building on someone else's side of the border. Obviously, that doesn't matter. The terrorists want to kill us because they want to kill us. They will not let us live in peace in any borders.
Previously closed due to security reasons, Route 12 located along Israel's border with Egypt, will fully reopen for traffic. In recent months, the IDF has worked around the clock in order to open the road and maintain the safety of civilians in the region.
Route 12 was first closed after a terrorist squad executed an attack against Israeli civilians travelling on the road in August (2011). Eight Israelis were killed as a result of the attack and 40 additional ones injured.
In February, Route 12 was partially opened to traffic, but only during the day and only after intensive work had been done to improve security along sections of the road near the border of Egypt and Israel. Measures include accelerated construction of the new security barrier and a surge of observational and protective measures tailored to providing early warnings of any terrorist activity.
The decision to open the road to full traffic came as a result of the IDF’s non-stop work to secure the road for nighttime travel.
Southern Command chief Major General Tal Russo announced that starting this week, Route 12 between the Sayarim Junction and Netafim would be open without restrictions. Along the rest of the road vehicles will be prohibited to stop on the shoulder close to the border, as the area between the road and the border will be closed to traffic.
A lot of Israelis like to visit Sinai (I did too in 1980 before I became an Israeli) and a lot of Israelis believe that warnings don't apply to them. I'd like to urge all my Israelis not to visit Sinai. It's become a no-man's land with no one in charge.
Armed beduin in Sinai kidnapped two police officers and 17 soldiers, Egypt's Al Ahram reported, in the latest in a series of kidnappings by beduin in the Sinai peninsula.
The kidnapping took place in northern Sinai in reaction to the killing of a man that was attempting to smuggle tobacco into bordering Israel, "official sources" told the Egyptian newspaper.
Security in the Sinai peninsula has deteriorated since the overthrow of former president Hosni Mubarak, as beduin long-complaining of neglect from Cairo have kidnapped tourists, foreign workers and taken over a seaside resort, holding the employees hostage.
The natural gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan has also been bombed at least 12 times in the past year, though in that development the Egyptian authorities have hired beduin tribesman to provide security.
Last week, beduin kidnapped two American women in an apparent attempt to hold them for ransom, only to release them to army authorities a few hours later.
While the Egyptian army did not comment on the conditions of the women's release, a beduin source said the authorities had agreed to a demand to free four fellow tribesmen from police custody in exchange for the two tourists.
Yet another reason why the West had to back ousting Hosni Mubarak. /sigh.
But seriously, recall that Israel agreed after Mubarak was deposed that Egypt could station troops in Sinai for the first time since the Camp David accords were implemented. And we see how little good stationing those troops there has done.
I don't see a war on the immediate horizon - the Egyptian army has too many other concerns. But I do see terrorist actions coming from Bedouin in the Sinai - possibly in cooperation with 'Palestinians' in Gaza.
Here's Soccer Dad's Middle East Media Sampler for Thursday, January 19.
1) Filling in details and making stuff up
When people don't know all the details of what happened, speculation becomes rampant to fill in the missing details.
For example we know that certain facilities in Iran have been targeted as well as nuclear scientists. The assumption is that Israel's behind these attacks because it is the country that most fears a nuclear Iran. Michael Ledeen writes that he doesn't believe that these attacks are the work of foreign governments:
Before getting into the details, let me caveat this whole thing: I don’t know who did it, and neither does anybody else writing about it. The Iranian regime, which usually claims to know everything about everything, has so far accused the Brits, the Americans, the MEK, and the Israelis. However, I think that I do know this: If the Israelis (or the Americans, or the Brits) are actually capable of operating at will in the midst of the virtual military occupation in Tehran, we do not have to worry about the Iranian nukes, because if the Israelis, the Brits or the Americans can do that, they can do anything they want to.
While many people have no idea what Jundallah is, writer Mark Perry recent wrote in Foreign Policy that its members had been recruited by the Mossad posing as CIA officers. This wasn't a case of filling in details to explain something in the news. It was propaganda. Jonathan Neumann debunks the claim at Jewish Ideas Daily (h/t Hadassah Levy)
A reader might benefit from knowing who Mark Perry is. Perry has run an organization called the Conflicts Forum, which specializes in what it calls "dialogue with a wide range of leading Islamists," prominently including Hamas and Hezbollah. In 1989 he became "unofficial advisor" to Yasir Arafat, head of the terrorist Palestine Liberation Organization. Perry maintained his role until Arafat's death in 2004. None of this background is disclosed by Foreign Policy. Not accidentally, Perry's claims appear to be nonsense. The Israeli government, whose policy is not to confirm or deny involvement in intelligence operations, has broken its general silence to call his story "absolute nonsense." There is external corroboration of Israel's position. In recent years, three high-ranking Israeli intelligence and defense officials have been forced to resign their posts because of Israeli actions that U.S. officials deemed against American interests—actions far less damaging than the "false flag" operation Perry describes. Yet Meir Dagan, who was chief of Mossad at the time of the alleged operation, not only kept his job but remained a Washington favorite.
2) I'll trust the king, when he stands for re-election
King Abdullah bin Hussein has written an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, The Palestinians and the Arab Spring. He rehashes the Arab Peace Initiative, which will soon be ten years old.
The two-state solution is supported by the U.S. and the rest of the Quartet (the European Union, the United Nations and Russia), and it is at the core of the Arab Peace Initiative, adopted unanimously by the 2002 Arab Summit in Beirut. Ours was an unequivocal statement of the Arab world's commitment to a neighborhood of peace and acceptance, opening the way to a comprehensive settlement that would end the conflict, meet the Palestinians' right to freedom and statehood, and give Israel acceptance and security. This Initiative was endorsed by the entire Muslim world—57 countries—and remains a cornerstone for peacemaking in the Middle East.
The initiative was not unequivocal. It was an ultimatum, giving Israel no room for negotiation. When it was being formulated (then) Crown Prince Abdullah allowed Syria to prevail upon him to add language insisting that Israel withdraw from Lebanese territory. Since two years earlier the UN had certified Israel's complete withdrawal from Lebanon, this showed that the Arab League members saw no problem with changing their demands of Israel. It was actually quite equivocal.
As mentioned, in 2000 Israel completely withdrew from southern Lebanon and in 2005 from Gaza. Hezbollah and Hamas, respectively, used those withdrawals to build their arsenals and attack Israel leading to wars in 2006 and 2008. Did the Arab League praise the Israeli withdrawals and condemn the terrorist groups that continued to attack? Or did it condemn Israel for defending itself? If the Arab League had demonstrated good faith when Israel ceded territory, they could claim that its peace initiative is sincere. But the Arab League didn't. Clearly Israeli security is not a term the Arab League takes very seriously.
The whole idea that Palestinian statehood is somehow part of the Arab spring of freedom is ridiculous. Right now the Palestinians are ruled by a terror organization and a corrupt civil authority. Even if Abbas negotiates with Netanyahu to make peace, the Palestinians will still not be free. The only way a state of Palestine might have something in common with the Arab spring, would be if Hamas took over and the Palestinians became the next Arab polity to be ruled by Islamists.
King Abdullah ends with:
Across the entire Arab world, people are demanding freedom, dignity and hope. In Jordan we have charted our course through an irreversible, inclusive and evolutionary process of political, social and economic reform. Regional peace must be part of this future—for Palestinians, for Israelis, for all. There have been too many failed attempts. Can we all do it this time?
When King Abdullah stands for election I'll believe his claim to be supporting freedom.
3) The risk of withdrawal
To the peace processor, the Israeli refusal to give into every territorial demand of the Palestinians is the primary reason for the lack of a peace process.
As noted above, the withdrawals from southern Lebanon and Gaza have left Israel less, not more secure. Ehud Yaari (via Daily Alert) writes about how the Sinai has become A New Front (.pdf):
Yet the true surge in such activity came after Israel’s 2005 disengagement from Gaza and subsequent removal of troops from the Sinai-Gaza border—as Bedouin political activist Ashraf al-Anani put it, “a fireball started rolling into the peninsula.” Illegal trade and arms smuggling volumes rose to new records, and ever-larger sectors of the northern Sinai population became linked to Gaza and fell under the political and ideological influence of Hamas and its ilk. Sympathy and support for the Palestinian battle against Israel grew; according to al-Anani, the closer one got to the Gaza border, “the more people are inclined toward Hamas.” In short, despite then prime minister Ariel Sharon’s quiet hope that Cairo would assume unofficial responsibility for Gaza affairs, the Israeli withdrawal instead allowed Hamas to export its influence into Egyptian territory. Facilitated by the dramatic increase in the number of tunnels—which numbered no less than 1,200 at their peak—the expansion of Hamas and other Palestinian activities in the Sinai was unprecedented. In fact, the arms flow was often reversed, with weapons going from Gaza to the Sinai. During the revolution, for example, observers noted a huge demand for firearms in the peninsula.14 And even in late 2010, well before Mubarak’s ouster, Hamas was already in the process of transferring heavy long-range missiles to secret storage places in the Sinai, including Grad rockets and extended-range Qassams. On October 6 of that year, the Israeli port of Eilat and its Jordanian sister town of Aqaba were hit by a salvo of missiles fired from the Sinai. The attacks took place despite stern Egyptian warnings to Hamas not to use the peninsula as a launchpad for strikes on Israel. In a response that has since become the norm, Hamas military commanders simply ignored the Egyptian request and later denied responsibility, although both Egyptian and Israeli intelligence had more than sufficient information to prove it.
Peace has its risks. The job of the peace processors ought to be assessing those risks instead of simply dismissing them. Elder of Ziyon notes one of the effects of this new front.
In 2006, following the Israeli disengagement and pullout from the Gaza Strip, there was an increase of 436 per cent in the number of Palestinian rockets launched towards Israel from that very territory. For some time, Israel resisted a large-scale military response to such acts deliberately aimed at civilians. As a result, the attacks got worse, and every country, including Israel, has the moral responsibility to defend its people from such actions. Increased Palestinian terror attacks from Gaza were the cause of Operation Cast Lead. Yet Israel's is a conscript army. Indeed Israel goes to extraordinary lengths to protect its young soldiers (witness the efforts make to secure the release of the kidnap victim Gilad Shalit), and does not send them to war easily. In the three years since the operation, there has been an unprecedented 72 per cent decline in the number of rockets launched from Hamas-controlled Gaza. No surprise, then, that Israel's Defence Forces Chief of Staff should call the operation "an excellent operation that achieved deterrence for Israel vis-a-vis Hamas". (However, that deterrence is still not enough to have prevented Palestinians from launching 1,571 rockets since the operation, including one attack with an anti-tank missile on a clearly identifiable Israeli school bus.)
My travels around Israel surprised me completely. The people were full of get up and go, eager to live peacefully in the region; the towns and cities were energetic and cosmopolitan; and the deliverance of democracy never failed to impress upon me. So why is there such a discrepancy between what I experienced and public perception back in the UK? When was the last time you heard a good news story emanating from Israel on your TV screens or in the newspapers? And why has Israel become defined simply by its inability to solve the conflict when it is so much more than that? I raised these questions when I returned to Israel again last week with colleagues from the UK and Australia for a dialogue with Israeli and Palestinian politicians, journalists, academics and commentators. This serious problem is not being effectively addressed and Israel’s future is being undermined by its inability to promote itself both accurately and attractively. As an MP, I witness this difference between perception and reality, on a regular basis in the House of Commons. From Backbenchers through to Government Ministers and Shadow Ministers, colleagues suffer from a serial case of apathy where Israel is concerned. Seemingly no positive impression of the place has been determined in people’s minds.
Israel creating virtual electronic fence in Red Sea
Israel is setting up a virtual electronic fence beneath the surface of the Red Sea in order to protect itself from attacks from Egypt, according to a story in Friday's JPost.
On Thursday, The Jerusalem Post toured the border with officers from the IDF’s 80th Division and received an insider’s look at how the military plans to thwart terrorist attacks. In August, eight Israelis were killed in a coordinated terrorist assault along the border.
Since then, the navy has boosted the number of electronic sensors along the coast. It can now detect and track targets the size of soda cans floating in the sea, said Lt.-Cmdr. Ronen, commander of the patrol ships in the Red Sea.
“The border between Israel and Sinai continues into the sea, and when one part is closed there might be someone on the other side who thinks that they can try to come into Israel a different way, maybe via the sea,” he told the Post. “We understand that our operations have significant and strategic consequences.”
Here’s a wonderful example of how this system works in another country. In Lebanon, Hizballah is creating its own secure strategic communications network without any government sanction. In one place, local people attacked workers building Hizballah facilities in their village. The Lebanese communications minister refused to interfere, supporting Hizballah’s actions. He explained that the Lebanese government accepted the project since almost anything was justified since Hizballah was fighting Israel. The opposition publication, NowLebanon, responded that this is “a phone network that will be used by Iran and Syria (let’s not mince words) to carry out its regional ambitions.”
But Lebanon’s government has no interest in restricting any war-making activities on Israel. So what can we expect in Egypt?
What counter-forces are going to make the problems go away? The army does not have to close Hamas facilities to maintain its own interests. Nor does it have to do so to keep U.S. aid. There is nothing that is going to block this from happening unless Hamas makes the huge mistake of interfering in Egyptian politics and becoming involved with those staging armed struggle within Egypt. Hizballah made that mistake a few years ago.
Want to know how Middle East politics really work? A couple of years ago Israel noted that the Egypt-Gaza smuggling level had gone way down. Western media praised Egypt for acting. In fact, what had happened was that Egyptian officers on the border had demanded a higher price in bribes; the smugglers had refused, so the officers had cracked down until they got more money at which point they opened the gates again.
I repeat: to point out the likelihood of such contingencies is of vital importance. The Israeli government is aware of these things and working to deal with them. What kind of planning and thinking for such dangerous situations is going on in the West? Little or none, because they don’t take these things seriously.
I'm not sure how seriously the Israeli government is taking this either. The fence is behind schedule, and who knows whether its budget will remain in place long enough for it to be completed. One of the big items of news yesterday was that the 'social lobby' is pushing for free education for 3-4-year olds so that their mothers can go off to work. The amount they cited as being a typical monthly kindergarten fee for that age was astronomical - I don't know anyone who pays anywhere near that much (they said NIS 3,000-5,000 per month - we paid about NIS 500 per month for our kids). Sounds like another subsidy for Kfar Shmaryahu to me.
Egypt is denying an earlier story that Hamas has set up rocket bases in the Sinai. This is from the first link.
"No one can ever bring in military tools or erect missile bases in Sinai. Egypt would not allow such a breach to its sovereignty," Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm quoted an Egyptian official as saying in response to the Post report.
The official added that Sinai is completely under the control of the Egyptian authorities and that the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel remains in place.
He further supported his refutation of the existence of Hamas bases and weapons production facilities in Egypt by pointing to the presence of UN peacekeepers in northern Sinai who, he claimed, would be aware of such a development were it to occur.
They really don't want the IDF to come back to Sinai, do they? What could go wrong?
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
