Egypt allows Isreal to bomb its territory

[Holac]

For more than two years, unmarked Israeli drones, helicopters and jets have carried out a covert air campaign, conducting more than 100 airstrikes inside Egypt, frequently more than once a week — and all with the approval of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

The remarkable cooperation marks a new stage in the evolution of their singularly fraught relationship. Once enemies in three wars, then antagonists in an uneasy peace, Egypt and Israel are now secret allies in a covert war against a common foe.

For Cairo, the Israeli intervention has helped the Egyptian military regain its footing in its nearly five-year battle against the militants. For Israel, the strikes have bolstered the security of its borders and the stability of its neighbor.

Their collaboration in the North Sinai is the most dramatic evidence yet of a quiet reconfiguration of the politics of the region. Shared enemies like ISIS, Iran and political Islam have quietly brought the leaders of several Arab states into growing alignment with Israel — even as their officials and news media continue to vilify the Jewish state in public.

American officials say Israel’s air campaign has played a decisive role in enabling the Egyptian armed forces to gain an upper hand against the militants. But the Israeli role is having some unexpected consequences for the region, including on Middle East peace negotiations, in part by convincing senior Israeli officials that Egypt is now dependent on them even to control its own territory.

Seven current or former British and American officials involved in Middle East policy described the Israeli attacks inside Egypt, all speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss classified information.

Spokesmen for the Israeli and Egyptian militaries declined to comment, and so did a spokesman for the Egyptian foreign ministry.

Both neighbors have sought to conceal Israel’s role in the airstrikes for fear of a backlash inside Egypt, where government officials and the state-controlled media continue to discuss Israel as a nemesis and pledge fidelity to the Palestinian cause.

The Israeli drones are unmarked, and the Israeli jets and helicopters cover up their markings. Some fly circuitous routes to create the impression that they are based in the Egyptian mainland, according to American officials briefed on their operations.

In Israel, military censors restrict public reports of the airstrikes. It is unclear if any Israeli troops or special forces have set foot inside Egyptian borders, which would increase the risk of exposure.

Mr. Sisi has taken even more care, American officials say, to hide the origin of the strikes from all but a limited circle of military and intelligence officers. The Egyptian government has declared the North Sinai a closed military zone, barring journalists from gathering information there.

Behind the scenes, Egypt’s top generals have grown steadily closer to their Israeli counterparts since the signing of the Camp David accords 40 years ago, in 1978. Egyptian security forces have helped Israel enforce restrictionson the flow of goods in and out of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian territory bordering Egypt controlled by the militant group Hamas. And Egyptian and Israeli intelligence agencies have long shared information about militants on both sides of the border.

Israeli officials were concerned in 2012 when Egypt, after its Arab Spring revolt, elected a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood to the presidency. The new president, Mohamed Morsi, pledged to respect the Camp David agreements. But the Israelis worried about the Muslim Brotherhood’s ideological kinship with Hamas and its historic hostility to the Jewish state itself.

A year later, Mr. Sisi, then the defense minister, ousted Mr. Morsi in a military takeover. Israel welcomed the change in government and urged Washington to accept it. That solidified the partnership between the generals on both sides of the border.

The North Sinai, a loosely governed region of mountainous desert between the Suez Canal and the Israeli border, became a refuge for Islamist militantsin the decade before Mr. Sisi took power. The main jihadist organization, Ansar Beit al Maqdis — the Partisans of Jerusalem — had concentrated on attacking Israel, but after Mr. Sisi’s takeover it began leading a wave of deadly assaults against Egyptian security forces.

A few weeks after Mr. Sisi took power, in August 2013, two mysterious explosions killed five suspected militants in a district of the North Sinai not far from the Israeli border. The Associated Press reported that unnamed Egyptian officials had said Israeli drones fired missiles that killed the militants, possibly because of Egyptian warnings of a planned cross-border attack on an Israeli airport. (Israel had closed the airport the previous day.)

Mr. Sisi’s spokesman, Col. Ahmed Ali, denied it. “There is no truth in form or in substance to the existence of any Israeli attacks inside Egyptian territory,” he said in a statement at the time, promising an investigation. “The claims of coordination between the Egyptian and Israeli sides in this matter are totally lacking in truth and go against sense and logic.”

Photo

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/03/world/middleeast/israel-airstrikes-sinai-egypt.html

[Johnny B]

I think this kind of topic serves only a one purpose, namely  givng a Somali-Islamist mind the wrong end of the stick.

[Old_Observer]

1 hour ago, Johnny B said:

I think this kind of topic serves only a one purpose, namely  givng a Somali-Islamist mind the wrong end of the stick.

And which one would be the right end of the stick?

[Johnny B]

Not to entertain  the illusion that fighting Islamists is morally wrong and that Egypt is not capable of fighting Islamists.

You haven't.sure equivocated on Egypty's ability ,  have you?

[Old_Observer]

Everyone in the world knows this facts:

Egypt is incapble of fighting on its own as proven in Libya, Yemen and its own country

Egypt can only move any sizable army to Sinai only after Israel's permission (Camp David agreement)

Egypt is so tretcherous would sell a family member for few bucks anywhere anytime to anyone

The first Egyptian to rule Egypt was Jamal Abdelnasir in 2000 years

Egypt survives on US subsidy including bread to serve and obey Israel on anything and everything top of list Gaza

 

No Islamist will be influenced or detered by Egypt. Need no worries.

 

[Old_Observer]

1 hour ago, Ducale said:

Egypt has no interest in fighting "Islamist". On the contrary, they creat Islamist, they  fan the flame of public resentment and play into the frustration and anger of honnest muslims.  They creat the problem and take advice on  the solution from "their friends" namely, Israel and US.

And that is he sign of weak society that accepts weak leaders who speak with forked tongues.

I think that is also done by instructions. Revile Israel but serve her. Israeli agents in egypt paid by Egyptians.

 

Egypt is the only country in the world which at one time had its total general staff all that led losing war and never questioned, never demted, never retired a single one of them. One is now president.

[Johnny B]

9 hours ago, Old_Observer said:

Everyone in the world knows this facts:

Egypt is incapble of fighting on its own as proven in Libya, Yemen and its own country

Egypt can only move any sizable army to Sinai only after Israel's permission (Camp David agreement)

Egypt is so tretcherous would sell a family member for few bucks anywhere anytime to anyone

The first Egyptian to rule Egypt was Jamal Abdelnasir in 2000 years

Egypt survives on US subsidy including bread to serve and obey Israel on anything and everything top of list Gaza

 

No Islamist will be influenced or detered by Egypt. Need no worries.

 

And there i rest  my case.

I'm not  in a type your whims contest.