By Vestnik Kavkaza
Israeli Shin Bet security service has created a special unit to counter the terrorist threat from the Sinai Peninsula. The new unit received almost as many resources as the services engaged in the prevention of terrorist attacks to the north of the city of Ramallah in the West Bank of the Jordan River, Russian media reports citing “Haaretz".
According to the Shin Bet, in the Sinai Peninsula at the moment there are 15 groups of Salafis, which include several hundred militants, and Israeli military intelligence believes that in the Sinai Peninsula there are are several thousand armed extremists. AMAN and the Shin Bet security service concluded a written agreement under which the General Security Service works to prevent terrorist attacks on the border with Egypt, and military intelligence provides electronic data collection, as well as the area's shooting from satellites and cameras on balloons.
Meanwhile, Israel's role in the exacerbation of the situation in the region is not entirely clear. Yesterday “Vestnik Kavkaza” reported that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed Tel-Aviv of the recent unrest in Egypt. But after a few hours the U.S. administration criticized the statements of the Turkish prime minister. The spokesman for the White House Josh Ernest said that "assuming that Israel is responsible for the events in Egypt is outrageous and false".
The experts on the Middle East issues told VK about the real role of Israel in the events in Syria and Egypt.
“Israelis are very active in lobbying in the United States for support for the military coup in Egypt, you understand that they have considerable leverage there, and in European countries”, Veniamin Popov, director of the Center for Partnership of Civilizations of the Institute of International Studies, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, said. They did not hide it and had a very big campaign, very serious. Of course, the "Muslim Brotherhood" is not to their liking. It is clear. And with the Egyptian army, they think they will agree easier”. Popov believes that for them, of course, today's event is the matter of vital interest, because it is a border and a major country in the Arab world: “Israel is very closely monitoring developments, because for it this is an issue of survival”. As for Turkey, which is also extremely polarized, there could be a similar situation to the unrest in Egypt, but the government does everything not to let their army get out of control: “I think for Turkey, for the Turkish government, this is now a matter of prime importance. That's why they actively support the "Muslim Brotherhood." You remember that Erdogan was one of the first to demand the convening of a special meeting of the UN Security Council to consider the matter and actively tried to internationalize the crisis. The first thing the Egyptians did was to withdraw their ambassador and removed some Turkish TV series from their screens. The Turks withdrew their ambassador. There are serious disputes. Therefore, for Turkey this is the most important policy issue. By the way, Turkey believes that Israel, too, participated in it and criticizes Israel for this”. Meanwhile, the Turkish-Israeli political and economic relations are more and more complicated: “Israel should establish relations with Turkey, because it has gas on the coast and it should export it. The Arabs will not let Israel do this, so this is possible only via Turkey. On the other hand, Turkey could take that step, but Turkey must, of course, maintain its leadership in the Islamic world. To some extent, warm relations with Israel will certainly impede this important goal. This must be borne in mind”.
“In regard the situation in Syria, Israel, by and large, has distanced itself from this civil war”, Vitaly Naumkin, director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said. “It took a few steps, and even launched an armed attack on the Golan Heights, as you know, but it was "low profile", basically Israel waits and takes the position of observer, although Syria is very important, the fate of further developments in Syria is important for Israel. Israel, of course, is afraid of the coming to power of radicals, Islamists and jihadists.
Regarding Egypt, the fate of this country is even more important for Israel, because Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel and is seen by the international community, especially by the United States, as a guarantor of peace in the Middle East. If this situation changes, it will, of course, be terrible for Israel. Therefore, Israel is interested that the military is firmly in place, of course, and is interested that in the context of these events control of the situation in the Sinai is established, where jihadists commit a series of actions against Israel”.
