Israeli officials are worried that the new policy changes in post-revolution Egypt would diminish Israel’s strategic clout in the Middle East.
After years of ‘cold peace’ between the two former foes, relations between Egypt and Israel are growing strained following the overthrow of president Hosni Mubarak and Cairo’s policy shift toward the Palestinians.
Last week, Egypt succeeded in bringing together rival groups Hamas and Fatah to sign a deal to close ranks after four years of feud.
The Egyptian success came less than two months after the ouster of Mubarak, whose previous efforts to reconcile between the two rival groups had been fruitless.
Cairo’s moves to open the Rafah border crossing permanently are also adding to the tension.
The terminal, the only gateway for Israel-blockaded Gaza Strip to the outside world, has been closed since Hamas ousted President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah group from the strip in 2007 after a deadly infighting.
Under Mubarak’s regime, Egypt had refused to open up the crossing as a sign of pressure on Hamas, a policy that earned Cairo praise from Israel and chief ally the United States.
But the new shift in the Egyptian policy on Gaza and the Palestinians is enraging Israel, which sees the U-turn a major threat to its security.
“We are troubled by recent developments in Egypt,” a senior Israeli official told the Wall Street Journal.
“These developments can affect Israel’s national security at a strategic level.” Egypt and Israel fought three Middle East wars in 1956, 1967 and 1973.
The two foes signed a peace treaty in Camp David, the United States, in 1979, under which Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula, which was occupied in the 1967 war.
Diminishing Clout
Israeli officials are worried that the new policy changes in post-revolution Egypt would diminish Israel’s strategic clout in the Middle East.
“It will become more difficult for Israel to control events and their outcomes” over the coming year, Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel, chief of planning for the Israeli armed forces’ general staff, had told a security conference in Israel earlier this month.
Analysts believe that the upheaval in Egypt would force Israel to increase its military expenses.
“Egypt was the cornerstone of our security in the region, and when that stone is eroding, the whole Middle East changes in a profound way,” Dan Schueftan, director of national security studies at Haifa University, had said.
“Israel would have to operate in a completely different strategic environment with an army that has become very, very small compared to the threats that surround us.”
Thanks to the 1979 Camp David peace treaty with Egypt, the Israeli military kept minimal presence on its southern border, freeing it up for actions to the east and north.
Israel had also reduced its defense expenditure from 23% of its gross national product in the mid-1970s to about 9% at present.
The relationship with Egypt also allowed Israel to end a costly military occupation of Gaza in 2005, as Egypt covered Gaza from the south.
In addition to that, Israel imports about 40 percent of its natural gas from Egypt, which has also been supportive and helpful in negotiating with the Palestinians.
The changes in Egypt have aroused calls inside Israel to re-occupy Gaza, home to 1.6 million Palestinians, or at least the borderline with Egypt.
“There’s no reason for us to make any decisions in the next few weeks or even more than that,” Giora Eiland, a former Israeli national security adviser, had told The Wall Street Journal.
“We have to observe, and if the situation changes in a bad way, we will have time to shift whatever has to be shifted.”
Courtesy: Onislam