Is Egypt violating the Camp David Accords? Israel raises concerns - analysis

No sooner had Syria’s Bashar al-Assad been toppled – removing, at least for the immediate future, the likelihood of a full-blown war with one of Israel’s most bitter and well-equipped enemies – then all eyes suddenly turned toward Egypt. That’s right, Egypt, the country with which Israel has maintained a peace agreement for more than 45 years, a peace agreement that has withstood many challenges, not least of which was the last 16 months of war in Gaza.

All of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, the media – especially social media – has been flooded with reports of Egyptian military buildups and maneuvers in the Sinai. The developments take on a more ominous tone in light of recent hyperbolic Egyptian rhetoric surrounding US President Donald Trump’s suggestion to relocate Gazans, including to Egypt.

Some of the images circulating show rows and rows of Egyptian tanks and large-scale military drills that go back several years. Nevertheless, they suddenly seem more problematic in light of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s warning that transferring Gaza refugees to Sinai is a “redline” that would threaten Egypt’s national security and could ignite a war with Israel. Concerns about Egyptian intent received a serious upgrade this week when remarks the new Israeli ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, made to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Organizations on January 28 went public.  (Read More)