In light of increasing terror risks from Sinai, soldiers in new battalion undergoing extensive combat and intelligence training • MK Benjamin Ben-Eliezer says Israel should expect confrontation with Egypt • Demonstrations continue in Tahrir Square.
Lilach Shoval, Daniel Siryoti and Reuters
Defense Ministry Director-General Udi Shani (center) inspects Israel's security fence near Egypt. | Photo credit: Ariel Hermoni | ||||||
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The Israel Defense Forces has announced the establishment of a new intelligence-gathering battalion to be stationed along the Israel-Egypt border. The move comes after a surge in violence from the increasingly lawless Sinai Peninsula, where radical groups have gained a foothold following the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in February.
Soldiers in the new battalion, which also includes female troops, are undergoing extensive combat and intelligence training, and some are also expected to be stationed along Israel's border with Jordan.
Explaining the need for the new battalion, defense officials on Sunday said that a great deal of uncertainty remains about Egypt's future, and it is unclear what type of government will arise in Cairo after the parliamentary elections scheduled for Nov. 28 and to what degree the Muslim Brotherhood will be bolstered as a result.
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There have also been mounting concerns that political changes in Egypt could lead to an increase in attempted terror attacks originating from the Sinai. In light of these risks, the defense establishment said, the IDF must be prepared.
MK Benjamin (Fouad) Ben-Eliezer on Monday warned that Israel and Egypt may enter into a confrontation if Israel does not restart negotiations with the Palestinians.
In an interview with Army Radio, Ben-Eliezer described the current situation in Egypt as "anarchy" and said that good relations with Egypt were a first-rate strategic asset for Israel that must be preserved.
He said he expected "a direct confrontation between the two countries in the near future." He also said the confrontation would not necessarily be a military one, but cautioned that he was not sure the Israel-Egypt peace treaty would hold as "it is crumbling in our very hands."
He said that Israel would not be able to repair a deteriorating relationship with Egypt through direct talks, but rather would need to restart negotiations with the Palestinians.
"There currently exists no pronounced moderate leader like Nasser or Sadat. In a few days the religious voters in Egypt will cast their ballots, and the secular voters will stay home," Ben-Eliezer said. "Israel constantly conveys that it is interested in repairing relations [with Egypt] and is doing everything and even more. The conclusion from all of this is that we need to enter into direct negotiations with the Palestinians. Otherwise, our embassies will continue to be attacked all over the world."
The security situation continues to escalate in the Sinai. An Egyptian security official on Monday said two policemen were wounded when members of a militant group opened fire at police in the northern part of the peninsula. The official says the incident occurred after police went to the home of a militant explosives expert and leader of an al-Qaida inspired group, in an attempt to arrest him. The group is suspected of being behind a spate of recent attacks on Egyptian police and on a gas pipeline transporting fuel to Israel and Jordan.
The IDF Southern Command has recently accelerated the construction of the final section of the security fence along the Israel-Egypt border to thwart the flow of infiltrators and help prevent terror attacks, such as the multi-pronged attack in southern Israel on Aug. 18 that left eight Israelis dead.
IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz said last week that he believes construction of the 270-kilometer security fence will be completed by the end of 2012.
"This is not a border between enemies, it is a border to contain growing risks," Gantz said during a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee last week.
Based on recent military assessments of the security situation in southern Israel, an additional brigade in the Southern Command will also be created under the leadership of Maj. Gen. Tal Russo.
The IDF is also set to reopen Route 12, which runs along the Israel-Egypt border and leads to Eilat, to civilian traffic after it was closed following the August attack. The route has undergone a major security upgrade and now includes observation posts, protective concrete barriers and several checkpoints.
Egyptians overtake Tahrir Square again ahead of parliamentary elections
As the IDF works to fortify Israel's border with Egypt, security forces within Egypt have been trying to quell a wave of renewed demonstrations that have overtaken Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest the slow pace of reforms and to urge the military to quickly hand over power to civilian leaders.
On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of Egyptian protesters poured into Tahrir Square and demanded an immediate end to the country's military regime, which has held power since Hosni Mubarak was unseated in February. In clashes between protesters and security forces, 11 demonstrators were killed by Egyptian security forces. Six more were killed earlier in the weekend, bringing the total death toll to 17.
The wave of protests has also spread to other cities, including Alexandria, El-Arish and Suez.
Al-Arabiya reported Sunday that since the demonstrations began again this past weekend, more than 1,200 people have been injured.
The Egyptian government officially announced that security forces had not received any instructions to fire live ammunition at protesters. Nevertheless, teargas rained down on demonstrators and police brandished batons in a bid to clear the square and end the protests. Although police denied using live ammunition, angry protesters gathered spent shotgun cartridges and bullet casings on Sunday and waved them in the air.
The Egyptian culture minister, noting the renewed violence, resigned on Sunday.
The vast majority of protesters who have filled Tahrir Square are members of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties. In addition to demanding the resignation of the military regime, they also strongly oppose the new Egyptian constitution that provides the ruling Supreme Military Council with authority in the government, even after the parliamentary elections take place. Egyptians are set to elect a new parliament in the staggered vote that starts on Nov. 28, but even when the assembly is chosen, presidential powers remain with the army until a presidential election, which may not happen until late 2012 or early 2013.
According to various pre-election surveys, the Muslim Brotherhood is predicted to win at least 30 percent of the Egyptian vote. The movement seeks to have the Egyptian constitution based on Islamic Sharia law.
"We will not leave the square until all our demands have been met, especially the transfer of power from the Supreme Military Council to a civil presidential institution," one protester told Al-Jazeera on Sunday. "We did not overthrow corrupt Mubarak and his thieving people so that Egypt could come under military rule. We want freedom."
Protesters calling for a second revolution "to protect the achievements of the first revolution" destroyed armored vehicles belonging to security forces and police who were called to the scene to disperse the demonstrations.
Together with Islamist leaders who took part in the demonstrations, the protesters shouted: "The law of Egypt is Sharia. The military leadership must be overthrown and the thieves must be hanged."
Some opposition groups even waved signs denouncing Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the interim military government, which they called a dictatorship.
The Supreme Military Council said it condemns attempts by Egyptian protesters to destabilize the country, and promised that elections would be held as scheduled. However, British newspaper the Guardian reported on Sunday that a number of parties announced they were suspending their election campaigns.
A surge in violence during voting, a common feature of elections in Mubarak's era of rigged polls, could also undermine the parliamentary assembly's legitimacy by putting results in question and deepening public frustration at the army's handling of the transition.
"I suggest that anyone who attempts to delegitimize the [Supreme] Military Council think carefully about this," a council spokesman said. "We cannot let the memory of our sons and daughters who died and gave their blood to the revolution be exploited by groups and organizations who seek to harm Egypt's unity."
Meanwhile, Israel's ambassador to Cairo has traveled to Egypt for the first time since he and his staff were evacuated from the country in September after protesters stormed the Israeli Embassy, a Foreign Ministry official said on Sunday.
Playing down the significance of Ambassador Yitzhak Levanon's trip, the official, who asked not to be identified, said the ambassador went to Egypt on Saturday for farewell meetings with foreign and Egyptian diplomats before his retirement.
Israel's embassy in a high-rise building in Cairo has remained unoccupied since protesters breached its security walls and broke in two months ago, trapping Israeli security guards inside until they were rescued by Egyptian commandos.
