There are indeed more Egyptian troops and armor in the Sinai than any time since 1973. That’s more than the usual loudmouths. Assad’s regime is fighting for its life, one of the ways to win would be to attack Israel, or sucker Israel into attacking Syria. Iran is doing more than shooting of its mouth. I’d say it’s not business as usual, but initiating overt war would be a bad mistake, unless it involves an immediate and drastic degradation of Iran’s nuclear capabilities. We need an increased covert war, which brings us to assassination of radical clerics (previous post)? We’ll get some sharks and wild pigs right on it, maybe a few trained snakes and ravens, too.
Iran is almost laughable. They are trying to curry favor with Arabs across the Middle-East. At the same time, they are alarming other governments across the same region. When haven’t they spewed against Israel? As a result, you’ve got governments in the region considering giving the U. S. or Israel transit rights. They won’t do it publicly, but I’ll guarantee you Saudi Arabia will not tolerate a nuclear armed Iran.
Syria is desperate. Sure they may try to pull something against Israel. What’s that going to result in? It will result in the leadership of Syria being removed, and Syrian insurgents being successful. That looks an awful lot like Syrian leadership lose/lose to me.
Egypt’s tanks can be taken out in short order. If they move closer than that thirty mile perimeter, that’s what will happen.
So yes, things are ratcheted up in the region. Israel has been here before.
Is military action imminent? I’m not convinced of that at all.