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| Israel-Palestine |
| Israel braces for Egyptian military push into Sinai |
| 2004-06-18 |
| From Geostrategy-Direct, subscription req’d... Another factor to be thrown into the ME equation. While Israel’s political leadership is speaking enthusiastically about Egypt’s willingness to cooperate in Israeli plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, Israeli military intelligence is more worried than ever about its western neighbor. Israeli military intelligence believes the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is preparing to violate the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, which includes a demilitarization of most of the Sinai Peninsula. Military intelligence has assessed that Mubarak has given his military the green light to deploy a significant amount of assets and troops over the Suez Canal and into the central and eastern part of the Sinai. Israel’s military intelligence sees disturbing Egyptian military behavior in the Sinai Peninsula. Intelligence sources said the Egyptian military has been deploying so-called police forces in the demilitarized Zone A in Sinai. These forces have been monitoring Israeli military activity and have been storing fuel for what could be the formation of Egyptian mobile combat units. Military intelligence believes the Egyptian military wants to pin down a significant part of Israel’s army in case of any Arab-Israeli war, particularly with Syria. Sources said Egypt might have assessed that a bolstered military presence — even in violation of the peace treaty — would concern Israel enough to keep units and assets along its southwestern border rather than move against another hostile Arab country. The Israeli military has been preparing for such a scenario. Israel has been forming special operations forces to quickly track and destroy Egyptian commando units. The Israel Air Force has been drafting plans to destroy Egyptian Air Force fighter-jets in case of a war with Egypt. Nobody is predicting this will happen as long as Mubarak is alive. But afterwards — who knows? |
| Posted by:Alaska Paul |
| #4 Nobody is predicting this will happen as long as Mubarak is alive. But afterwards — who knows? So then you do the prudent thing: Hope for the best, and plan for the worst. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-06-18 9:46:20 PM |
| #3 I find it utterly baffling. Sharon has been pushing so hard for this deal, and honestly, Sharon is no stranger to dealing with the egyptians (I believe it was Sharon himself who was positioned to cross the suez and take egypt back in 1973). Yes, he's older and um....slower these days, but he of all people couldn't have missed the possibility that Egypt may begin to feel a little agressive so close to the border and start licking it's chops. stange times, these... |
| Posted by: Dripping Sarcasm 2004-06-18 8:54:57 PM |
| #2 Okay, this disturbs me. I sure hope Israel is dead set and ready to take Egypt out (AGAIN) if they violate the treaty and start moving forces east. How many times does Israel have to pay for the same ground? Maybe Israel should let it be known that they are praticing "Dam Busting" (Aswan, anybody?) |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2004-06-18 8:34:20 PM |
| #1 more signs that Hosni's not long for this world. Israel would annihilate the Egyptian forces |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-06-18 7:22:15 PM |