Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter has accused Egypt of “very serious” violations of its 45-year-old peace treaty with the Jewish state, saying the government in Jerusalem would table Cairo’s military buildup in Sinai “very soon.”
Egypt has constructed military bases in Sinai “that can only be used for offensive operations, for offensive weapons—that’s a clear violation,” Leiter said in his first meeting with American Jewish organizations on Jan. 28, a recording of which was shared online by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on Friday.
Egypt’s breach “is an issue that is going to come to the fore because it’s not tolerable,” the Israeli diplomatic envoy explained. “For a long time, it’s been shunted aside, and this continues. This is going to be an issue that we’re going to put on the table very soon and very emphatically.”
Satellite images indicating changes in Egyptian army deployment in the Sinai Peninsula have reportedly led security coordinators in Israeli border towns to paint a worrying picture of recent developments.
IDF Lt. Col. (res.) Eliyahu Dekel, who has monitored Cairo’s adherence to the peace deal since it was signed in 1979, told Israel Hayom last week that “if the latest images are verified, the concern isn’t just about forces in Sinai, the key issue is the type of tanks. The images show Abrams tanks, which are Egypt’s premier battle tanks, reserved for elite units.
“The question arises: What are these special forces doing in Sinai? In recent years, three new airfields have been built in Sinai, and massive tunnels have been dug, blatantly violating the peace treaty. The treaty allows for military camps for 47 battalions; currently, there are camps for 180 battalions, four times the permitted amount.”
In recent days, Cairo’s official rhetoric has escalated in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for relocating Palestinians from Gaza. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has made clear that he will not allow the move to happen, even postponing a planned visit to the White House.
In his speech to the Conference of Presidents, Leiter said Sisi “plays both sides of the equation, but he is threatened by the Muslim Brotherhood.”
If the Israeli military decisively defeats the Muslim Brotherhood branch in the Gaza Strip—Hamas—Sisi is “going to be more open to cooperate with us on the ‘day after’ Hamas,” he argued.
The Israeli envoy called it “unconscionable that Egypt wouldn’t entertain the possibility of at least temporarily housing some of the [Palestinian] refugees, particularly in light of the fact that members of Sisi’s family are running a travel agency in which they take tens of thousands of dollars from Gazans who want to get out of the area.”
On Sunday, Sisi told World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder that the establishment of a Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip is “the only guarantee” for lasting peace in the Middle East.
During the meeting with the Jewish leader in Cairo, Sisi called for the reconstruction of the war-torn Strip “without displacing its residents from their land,” according to a statement published by his office.
According to the readout from the Egyptian presidency, Lauder for his part praised Cairo’s “wise efforts” to restore stability in the Middle East.
