15 August 2013

Egyptian military helps out the IDF - enlightened self-interest rules, ok!

I found this report from The Times of Israel most interesting. My eye was drawn, in particular, by this passage: "Friday’s alleged drone strike, which killed four and destroyed a rocket launcher, came on the heels of a warning from Egyptian security officials (emphasis added), who reportedly conveyed to Israel that jihadists in the Sinai were planning imminent attacks against Israeli targets." This suggests to me, quite seriously, that the Egyptian military have no wish to tangle with the IDF in any sort of conventional warfare: they remember only too well the cost, both in terms of men and material, that the last two "meetings" cost (for those too young to remember, we're talking 1967 and 1973 here). Thus, they warn the Israelis about what's about to happen, and expect (correctly) that the IDF will deal with it.

There's also this: "Local Bedouin are helping Egyptian authorities to locate the exact launch site." This further suggests that the only people on the side of the jihadists are their fellow jihadists. Everyone else wants a quiet life. And/or, they'd like to keep the IDF away from their patch. Quite sensible of them. Having family members who have served in the IDF, I wouldn't want to tangle with them either. It's an interesting article.

BTW, I came across this in The Algemeiner, a book written by Bibi's father, Benzion. He, apparently, left Ben-Gurion and the other leftist Zionists behind in the mid-1920s and shifted "rightwards". His book, "The Founding Fathers of Zionism”, has five essays on people such as Herzl (naturally: how could he leave him out), but also Nordau - loved and admired by the Maccabi movement for his call for a muscular Judaism - and Jabotinsky. Jabotinsky is hardly a hero of mine, given my personal politics, but that didn't stop me loading the book onto my e-book reader. You might find it interesting too: something for everyone here!

By Brian Goldfarb.

3 comments:

SnoopyTheGoon said...

We are going to see some VERY strange bed fellows before this is all over with.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Indeed, Sennacherib, indeed. And to support Sennacherib's point, allow me to add the following two links to this post: the first is from The Algemeiner http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/08/14/wsj-western-security-officials-confirm-israel-egypt-armies-battling-terrorists-together-in-sinai/ and confirms the point about the co-operation between the Egyptian army and the IDF. Indeed, it argues this at some length and in some of the same terms I used above.

The second is from The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-launches-airstrike-after-gaza-rockets-target-israel/more airstrikes against Hamas. This shows that the IDF (and the current Israeli government) isn't going to allow the peace talks to undermine the government's determination to protect the nation's citizens. Nor, of course, should it.


Talking is not, after all, a sign of weakness. Churchill said it first: "Jaw-jaw is better than war-war". Providing that one doesn't forget that the latter may, however regrettably, become necessary.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Oh yes, and we are already watching the confusion in the White House and other seats of power in the West.