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Israel ups alert on border with Egypt after Morsi ouster

04 July 2013 21:17 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Israel's military remained on a heightened state of alert along the country's border with Egypt a day after its armed forces overthrew embattled president Mohamed Morsi and an interim head of state was sworn in on Thursday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Israel's military and political echelons, who have been closely monitoring the dramatic events unfolding in Egypt in recent days, are primarily concerned that militants affiliated with global jihad will exploit the turmoil in Egypt by attempting to launch attacks against Israel from the Sinai Peninsula, a vast desert expanse that flanks Israel's western border with Egypt.

"Law and order have severely deteriorated in Sinai," a military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua on Thursday, referring to the increased lawlessness in the peninsula since the ouster of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in March 2011.

To illustrate his point, the official cited a cross-border attack carried out by some two dozen heavily-armed militants near the Red Sea port city of Eilat in August 2011 in which six Israeli civilians and two soldiers were killed, and an ambush along the border fence last June in which one Israeli soldier was killed.

Captain Roni Kaplan, a military spokesman, told Xinhua by telephone that the Israel Defense Forces are "always prepared and set to deal with any threat" that might take place along Israel's borders. He declined to comment on any specific military deployment and measures currently being undertaken.

Unnamed Israeli officials lauded what they described as the good cooperation between the Israeli and Egyptian militaries under Morsi's rule in harnessing Sinai-based militants and mediating between Israel and Gaza's Hamas since November of last year. The Israeli daily Ha'aretz on Thursday said channels of security coordination between the two sides continued interrupted this week, despite the upheaval in Egypt.

The officials dismissed reports that Israel earlier this week agreed that Egypt move additional troops and armored vehicles into Sinai--to prevent Hamas and other militants from the Gaza Strip from entering the region, as well as weapons.

Lt. Gen. (ret.) Gabi Ashkenzai, a former IDF chief, said that Morsi's removal from power and the army's takeover of the country do not pose any immediate danger to the Jewish state.

"I think the Egyptian army is too busy (with domestic issues) to deal with anything that is outside of Egypt," Ashkenazi said Thursday in remarks appearing in The Jerusalem Post. He warned, however, that Israel should continue to carefully monitor the situation in Egypt, where the drama "is far from over."

"I don't think there's any danger t the moment," said Ashkenazi.

Meanwhile, Israel is maintaining a low profile in the wake of Morsi's ouster. The government did not issue an official statement, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly instructed his spokesmen and cabinet ministers not to publicly comment or grant interviews on the events taking place in Egypt, local news outlets said Thursday.

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, however, released a carefully worded statement approved by the Prime Minister's Office following the news that Adli Mansour had taken oath as interim president.

"We are not relating at the moment to what is happening there. It is an Egyptian matter. We must worry about our own interests, and I am sure we are doing just that," Katz told Army Radio.

Binyamin (Fuad) Ben-Eliezer, a Labor lawmaker who befriended Mubarak and maintained close relations with the former Egyptian leader over the years, explicitly welcomed the news of Morsi's removal from power on Wednesday.

"He spent the last year just fitting his own people into the echelons of the regime," Ben-Eliezer was quoted by Ha'aretz as saying. "The shake-up in Egypt will continue no matter who is elected, until Egypt returns to its secular base. It's not just the Muslim Brotherhood that's the problem, but the entire movement that hoped to take over the regime after 85 years."

Ben-Eliezer predicted that Mansour will lead major reforms in Egypt. "I assume he will work quickly to abolish the constitution and bring about new elections."