What Lessons Can Israel Learn from Egypt Border Terror Attack? - Analysis

The serious incident that unfolded on Saturday morning, June 3, and resulted in three dead soldiers is one of the worst attacks to occur on the Egyptian border in two decades.

Israel has complex borders, and it is never possible to prevent every scenario. One aspect of the incident is the diplomatic side. Egypt claims the officer who crossed did so in pursuit of drug smugglers.

Clearly, this is a sensitive issue now and that is a reminder of other times that we have seen our complex borders and relations challenged. In April, a Jordanian member of Parliament was stopped for smuggling weapons. He was then released back to the Jordanian authorities for investigation.

Dr. Udi Balanga, an expert on Egypt from Bar-Ilan University’s Department of Middle Eastern Studies, describes the Sinai Peninsula that borders Israel as the “Wild West” which is full of terrorist organizations that continuously challenge the government of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

“The peace is very very cold; there is almost an ocean of ice separating between the peoples,” Balanga said. However, “the relations between the regimes are excellent strategically and there is close security cooperation.”

Also, a question arising from the incident is whether the IDF failure during this episode was tactical, and mostly limited to the unusual particular circumstances, or strategic, exposing a much greater threat that has been ignored until now.

The details that have come out so far include that there was a small border opening that was poorly secured, but that was done on purpose to make it easier for IDF forces or maintenance workers to quickly get through to complete a short and specific mission. (JPost / VFI News)