But, all that’s changed.

Weapons and terrorists have entered the Sinai, and the Egyptians are powerless to do anything about it. Worse, the rise of an Islamist government in Cairo may turn the almost open border between Israel and Egypt into a nightmare.

When I left Israel in 2006, bombings happened on a monthly basis and the rising death toll was a constant source of horrific tension. When I returned in 2010 for nine months, not one bomb exploded anywhere and there was a most welcome sense of peace. All of that because of the wall around Judea and Samaria (aka, The West Bank).

Are we going to see a return of bombings in Israel?

I hope not.

But, I’ll be there in a couple months to see for myself.

Six army battalions called up under emergency orders to meet growing threat on Egypt, Syria borders

Knesset approves IDF request to call up a further 16 battalions if needed

By Aaron Kalman, May 2, 2012 | Times of Israel

The IDF has issued emergency call up orders to six reserve battalions in light of new dangers on the Egyptian and Syrian borders. And the Knesset has given the IDF permission to summon a further 16 reserve battalions if necessary, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.

An IDF spokesperson said intelligence assessments called for the deployment of more soldiers. An army statement highlighted last August’s infiltration from the Sinai north of Eilat in which eight Israelis were killed, and said the subsequent division of that area into two distinct military zones necessitated additional manpower.

According to 2008?s Reserve Duty Law, combat soldiers can be called for active reserve duty once every three years, and for short training sessions during the other two. Rising tensions between Israel and Egypt and the ongoing unrest in Syria caused the army to ask the Knesset for special permission to call up more soldiers, more often.

The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved the request recently, enabling the IDF to summon up to 22 battalions for active duty for the second time in three years. Already, the army has called up six of them.

“This signifies that the IDF regards the Egyptian and Syrian borders as the potential source of a greater threat than in the past,” the former deputy chief of staff, Dan Harel, said on Wednesday night.

Read the rest of the article here.

You would expect someone like Mr. Ibrahim to know whether a statement like this is plausable. Unfortunately, those of us who worry about Israel’s safety know that this is not only plausable, but inevitable. Worse yet is the realization that a torn up peace agreement will mean war not long after.

The only thing that will keep the new Islamic Republic of Egypt off of this course is civil war, which is possible and war with neighbors to their south, which is even more likely. (Egypt has been jealously guarding its right to ALL the water of the Nile – including the water that runs through Sudan, Ethiopia, and Uganda.)

So, short of a complete breakup of Egypt, we have to ask ourselves not whether there will be war with Egypt – but when there will be war with Egypt.

And, should Israel ever appear weakened in any way, that war will come even sooner.

Brotherhood would cancel Camp David Agreement, says Hezbollah official
Haitham Dabbour, Egypt Independent, Mon, 30/01/2012

Tehran — Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood will eventually cancel the Camp David Agreement, despite the group’s announcement that it respects international agreements Egypt has signed, said Amin al-Sayed Ibrahim, head of Hezbollah’s political council.

Speaking to the “International Conference on Islamic Awakening and the Youths,” Ibrahim said that the Egyptian military, so as not to lose its clout, would never allow the Brotherhood to write the constitution or even form a constituent assembly to write the constitution.

Following their electoral victories in Parliament, Egypt’s most organized political group has offered assurances that it would respect the 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

When asked early this month whether Washington believed that the Islamist party would uphold the treaty, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that the party “has made commitments to us in this regard.”

Ibrahim said that the current unrest in Syria is a conspiracy and not a revolution, as western media claims. The Egyptian delegation clashed with him over the remarks.

“The Syrians transfer arms to the Palestinian resistance,” he said.

Over 1,200 young people from Iran as well as 73 other countries are participating in the two-day conference, Iran’s Fars news agency reported on Monday.

The latest Islamic Republic has the attention of the Obama administration. In this era of budget deficits and economic hardship… the Obama administration is intent on ACCELERATING aid to Egypt. That’s right, the same Egypt that just elected a parliament that was 75% Islamist.

A parliament that is about to create the latest Islamist constitution.

And, Obama wants to ACCELERATE aid to Egypt?

No. No, that must be a misprint. Let me check that again…

No, they really said that.

Is there any doubt anymore that this president needs to be demoted to… oh, say… janitor?

I’d even let him keep his inflated salary. Really. It’s not about the money.

Please, would someone throw this man out of office?

Please?

Obama set to accelerate pace of US aid to Egypt

By REUTERS 01/25/2012

US State Department official says Washington to provide “more immediate benefits” to Egyptians after elections.

DAVOS, Switzerland – US President Barack Obama plans to accelerate the pace of American aid to Egypt, a top State Department official said on Wednesday, as the most populous Arab nation reaches a critical stage in its uncertain transition away from autocratic rule.

Undersecretary of State Robert Hormats, part of a US delegation that held unprecedented talks last week with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, said Washington wanted to provide “more immediate benefits” to Egyptians, who earlier this month conducted their first democratic elections in decades.
Related:

“During this period, we want to be as supportive as we can. This is an historic moment. Egypt’s a country of enormous importance,” Hormats said.

Under the plan, some non-urgent US aid slated for other countries – he did not name them – would be redirected to Egypt. And funding in the pipeline for long-term programs in Egypt would be shifted to quick-impact projects, he said.

Hormats, speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum, emphasized that the White House had not made any final decisions, and that he was providing Washington’s “broad thinking” on the subject.

It was unclear whether the total amount of US aid to Egypt would be increased. “Whether it’s an increase or whether it’s reprioritizing existing assistance, we’re still working this out,” Hormats said.

Read the rest of the article here.

Just when you thought that you could dispense with Israel, and relegate her to the back pages of human history… along comes a development that emphasizes just how important Israel is – and why the world will never be able to free itself from Israel’s importance.

And yes, I like that.

One of these days the idiots who set foreign policy will wake up to this fact, but probably not until it’s too late – right about the time the global caliphate is on the verge of taking to the world stage.

Fools.

So, over the next year, the 75% Islamist Egyptian parliament is going to draft a constitution. Anyone still wondering what kind of constitution it will be?

No?

Well, me neither.

So, to my friends in the US State Department, please continue your games. Really, it provides immense entertainment value to those of us who know the score.

Fools.

Islamists Secure Nearly Three-Quarters of Egyptian Parliament

January 21, 2012, Christopher Santarelli, The Blaze

Egyptian Islamists Win 75 Percent of Parliament

Egypt‘s election commission and political groups say final results from the country’s first elections since the Arab spring show that Islamist parties won nearly three-quarters of the seats in parliament.

The Associated Press reports that an alliance led by the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood won 47 percent of the spots in the 498-seat parliament, while the ultraconservative Al-Nour Party clinched 25 percent. The two parties are not likely to join forces because of ideological differences.

Liberal New Waftd and Egyptian Bloc parties finished third and fourth respectively, according to Reuters. Reuters also notes that the Revolution Continues coalition, which is dominated by youth groups at the forefront of the protests that toppled Mubarak, attracted less than a million votes and took only seven of the 498 seats up for grabs in the lower house.

Only one woman was among the 10 parliamentary seats appointed by the ruling military council which took over for Hosni Mubarak last February. Mubarak had traditionally used the quota to boost the representation of women and Coptic Christians.

The new parliament is set to convene for the first time Monday.

Read the rest of the article here.

It is routinely used by Bedouin to smuggle all kinds of things into Israel – drugs, prostitutes, weapons and terrorists. Until now, Egypt has had a tight control on access to the Sinai and few weapons and terrorists have been able to gain access. Not so now.

Libyan weapons are flowing unchecked into the Sinai and terrorists are having a field day – with a free hand to do what they want. This is NOT good news to anyone that wants to see peace in the Middle East. Hamas no longer needs to just shoot rockets into Israel from Gaza, they can now launch attacks over land on Eilat and into southern Israeli cities.

And, to think that Barack Obama celebrated this “Arab Spring” that is shaking out Arab dictatorships.

Israel raises alarm over Sinai-Gaza cooperation
Jan 16 01:35 PM US/Eastern, AFP

Israel is facing a growing security threat to its south because of the changes brought on by the Arab Spring which is not likely to disappear any time soon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.

“The security problem which is developing as a result of changes in the Middle East is getting worse, and is expected to continue for years,” Netanyahu told MPs at the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and defence, in remarks communicated by a spokesman.

“The state of Israel is required to strengthen its defence and attack capabilities immediately, which costs a lot of money,” he said.

“Libyan arms continue to flow into Gaza through Sinai,” he said, indicating that there were “more than 10,000 missiles” in the coastal enclave, some of which had a range “surpassing 40 kilometres (24 miles).”

The ongoing reconciliation process between Fatah and Hamas would force Israel to demand that Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip would be under similar terms as Fatah-controlled West Bank, Netanyahu said.

“Fatah-Hamas unity would force us to demand that the Gaza Strip be demilitarised,” he said.

He accused Iran of using the Egyptian Sinai as a staging area for launching attacks on Israel.

“Terror elements have entered the region, they’re using the area as a platform for terror, Sinai has become a destination for Iran,” he said, noting that in an attack last summer a missile was shot at a helicopter, which managed to dodge it.

Read the rest of the article here.