A leading strategy and security analyst in Egypt has called for a review of the peace agreement with Israel in the wake of the attack which resulted in the killing of sixteen soldiers at the weekend.
Major-General Abdul-Elrafe’ Darwish told Egyptian TV that after what he described as a “criminal and cowardly incident”, the Camp David Accords with Israel should be reviewed. “Our armed forces have to be able to defend our borders,” he said, “but the treaty makes that impossible as it limits the number of troops we can deploy in Sinai.”
Egypt shares a 180 km border with Israel in the Sinai Peninsula. The terms of Camp David do not allow Egypt to have more than a token force in Sinai. This was inserted in the treaty to the obvious advantage of the Israelis.
Darwish pointed out that the attack came after the Minister of Defence and Head of the Army, Field Marshal Tantawi, had claimed that the whole of Sinai is “secure”.