Posted on 02/12/2011 5:53:25 PM PST by Tigen
Israelis urged to return home for fear that peninsula will become launching pad for terror attacks as police abandon posts, facing increasing violence.
Concern is mounting in Israel over reports that the Egyptian police force has abandoned the Sinai Peninsula in face of growing Beduin violence, and that the territory will turn into a breeding ground for global jihad.
According to information that has arrived in Israel, Egyptian police authorities have abandoned dozens of police stations throughout the peninsula after they were attacked by Beduin armed with missiles and assault rifles.
This concern was behind Israel’s decision two weeks ago to allow the deployment of 800 Egyptian soldiers in Sharm e-Sheikh and Rafah.
Additional requests since then have been rejected.
In recent years, the Sinai hasturned into a launching pad for attacks against Israel, including by Hamas, which several months ago launched Katyusha rockets into Eilat from the Egyptian territory.
The Egyptian military has for years encountered difficulty in controlling the Beduin population, which does not hold allegiance to the Egyptian government in Cairo.
“The Sinai is already known as a lawless land,” a senior defense official said over the weekend. “There is real concern that if the Egyptians don’t get the Sinai back under their control, it could develop into a major threat to Israel.”
Israel, which has urged all its citizens to leave the Sinai immediately, is particularly concerned about the possibility that Hamas will take hold of parts of the peninsula and use it to launch attacks into Israel via the 240-kilometer long Israeli- Egyptian border, with an emphasis on Eilat.
There is also concern that without a real Egyptian security presence in the Sinai, Hamas will be able to increase the amount and quality of weaponry and explosives it smuggles into the Gaza Strip via Egypt.
Israel has shared these concerns with its allies, as well as on a personal level between Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen.
Gabi Ashkenazi and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen.
>>I think it’s very simplistic to think that the will of the people is always consistent with what is moral and what is right.
This is at the root of why the Founders created a Republic and not a Democracy.
I have a feeling they'll now have the opportunity to take it back in the not-to-distant future. Unfortunately.
I always wondered why Israel gave back the Sinai after the war with Egypt. Didn't keep up on things then, but I remember thinking it's a great buffer zone. I know this is woefully ignorant, but over time they gave up the Golan and the West Bank too?
Gee, no wonder the talking heads have gone quiet...
Why men like Mubarak, Saddam and the Shah must rule the ME.
It isn’t that civilization has passed them by or that racists or Zionists have impoverished them, but that they completely reject civilization and prefer destruction, mayhem and death.
Their god calls for it.
They can police it, though.
What Egypt needs is a Pinochet and some U of C econ grads.
There’s nothing like wealth through industry to temper a people.
Remember in 2009 when Obama demanded Honduras reinstate Hugo Chavez’s friend Manuel Zelaya who was breaking their constitution by making himself president for life?
The Bedouin were there before there was an Egypt.
I agree with you. There just aren’t the institutions in place there that are able to promote democracy or even ‘mobocracy’. The coming chaos will get pretty bad. Pretty soon they’ll welcome a system any system that can achieve a semblence of normalcy. Can you say ‘Shiria’? I thought you could.
When will MuBarack be forced to resign?
So is the Sinai peninsula no man’s land; not part of Israel and the Egyptian Army cannot go there?
Every talking head I've taken the grueling-effort to watch is positively giddy, i.e., gushing, about how benign events have proven to be; must be why Perky-Catie and Ms. Amanpour BOTH left in such hurry.
I was commenting to my most steadfast loyal audience the other day; I said, "Self: no good will come of this."
NONE, that is, unless somebody records these putative "un-biased" media-pundits - in lieu of journalism - reports for posterity so as to document how prominently they all wear their opininions on their journalistic sleeves, cuffs, and / or bell-bottoms.
WHY would this be an issue if the press is forcused instead on the "FIRST snowflake of the BLIZZARD of 20011"!!!!! THE FIRST SNOWFLAKE - ZOOM IN ON THAT SUCKER Zack, ZOOM INTO THE FIRST SNOWFLAKE, oh, WAIT, there's ANOTHER ONE!
I'll NOT deny that I'm jaded, but where have you seen reported in the main stream media that ObamaCare has been ruled: unconstitutional.
I believe that Israel only controls a little over half of the Golan Heights and the West Bank is divided up into about 3 sections IIRC. Each of these sections of the West Bank have different civil control structures with Israel playing a larger or lesser role in governance depending upon the section.
No doubt they will if Egypt fails to honor their 30 year peace treaty.
2012!!
It's close to a DMZ. Egypt can only bring over a very limited number of military. I think about a brigade and some anti-aircraft.
Likely not the true Mt Sinai location but I agree Israel should have held on to it. Mt Sinai is more likely located in Saudi Arabia Mt Sinai
The problem with the traditional site is several. One being even then that would have had Israel still in Egypt as the Sinai even then was part of Egypt. Another problem is space. Not big enough for the twelve tribes at the traditional site. The crossing at the Strait of Tiran where the Gulf of Aqaba narrows makes sense. I've looked at some satellite photos of the area where it is believed Israel crossed and it too makes sense specially with a Divine Miracle to part the waters at that point. A forty year wilderness stint in Saudi Arabia also makes more sense. Moses was not a stranger to that area but Israel was.
The Israelis gave back a portion of the Golan Heights but I think they still have most of it. Parts of the West Bank are under the administration of the Palestinian Authority but there are still a lot of Israeli settlements there.
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