Israeli Knesset member Aryeh Eldad warned his country's government of Egypt's growing power and military power in the region, stressing that it still poses the greatest danger to Israel.
Eldad said in statements to the Israeli Channel 7: “The era of major wars has not ended yet. Egypt poses a great danger to Israel, and the capabilities of the Egyptian army in the Sinai desert are terrifying.”
He warned that Israel must add to the annual threat surrounding it the option of war with Egypt, due to the strength and behavior of the Egyptians.
Former Member of the Knesset, Professor Aryeh Eldad, said in his conversation with Channel 7, that although Israeli army officers were taught that the era of major wars had ended, Saturday last October proved to us that we must look at the enemy’s capabilities and not just its intentions. Therefore, Egypt could pose a major threat to Israel.
He continued: “What I see in the field is the strength and behavior of the Egyptians. Years have passed, after the signing of the peace agreement with Egypt, in which we gave up all of Sinai. The peace agreement stipulated that the only guarantees in it were to reduce the forces in Sinai, even though "The Sinai desert was supposed to be demilitarized. Over the years, this agreement completely eroded and the opposite happened."
He added: “It is in Egypt’s interest to be strong in Sinai, because of ISIS, but when Tel Aviv allowed them to temporarily increase forces, they never returned the forces to the other side of the canal, and in doing so they are in fact violating the agreement, by retaining much larger forces.” Which he allowed them to do.”
Professor Eldad was asked whether an attack from Egypt was a dangerous scenario in the current reality that includes war with Hamas, and he explained: “This is the least worrying part, because what the Egyptians have done since signing the agreement and preparing their army for the next war, through the highways in Sinai, And the underground facilities where long-range missiles are stored, new airports, and huge reserves of fuel, and all of this, of course, targets Israel only You are not preparing for a confrontation with Iran by putting fuel in Sinai.”
He explained, saying: “When we know about the descriptions of the Egyptians’ annual exercises, they are training for the war against Israel, and to ensure their ability to transport all the teams to Sinai in a short time, they built dozens of bridges to Sinai over the canal and dozens of tunnels under the canal, in some of which they can pass.” Two tanks side by side, and this at the same time. There is no reason for tourism or development issues for the Bedouins in Sinai. For all these corridors, bridges and tunnels, why is this entire set paved?!, except to move military forces very quickly north to the border with Israel.”
She also asks: “In light of the ongoing Israeli cooperation with the Egyptian army and the authorities in Egypt, has Tel Aviv ever asked the Egyptians about the movements of their forces in Sinai and whether there is coordination with them in this regard or not? Can we be calm in this aspect?”
He continued: “What I fear is that the Egyptians will not evade the answer, but we never asked for that so as not to disturb them. This is unbelievable If the matter is just infrastructure and development for Sinai, then let it go, but here comes the matter that we fell into on October 7th.” We will never try to assess the enemy's intentions, but only point out his capabilities, and this is shown by Egypt's behavior patterns over the past twenty years, which allowed the flow of large quantities of weapons into the Sinai desert. In time, the Egyptians realized that instead of fighting ISIS, "It would be better for them to direct the jihadist energies inside the Gaza Strip against Israel."
He said: "When Egypt does not fight the smuggling of thousands of tons of ammunition, it is no longer possible to deal with Egypt as a friend and partner in a peace agreement and turn a blind eye to the infrastructure they are preparing."
He added, "The bottom line for us is that they help arm Hamas and Jihad in Gaza, and on top of that they have the largest army in the region that stands against us in large numbers."
Professor Eldad later referred to the map of the threat surrounding Israel that the Israeli army determines at the beginning of each year, and explained: “You can no longer erase them (the Egyptians) from the threat to Israel At the beginning of each year, the Israeli threat is written in Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah, but you cannot Egypt writes: “This matter must end, and when we have to increase our defense budget, we will need not only forces and tools against Hamas and Hezbollah, but also preparations for war against a large and regular army like Egypt.”
Algerian-American discussions on renewable energy and hydrogen development
Algerian Minister of Energy and Mines, Mohamed Arkab, discussed with a delegation of American businessmen opportunities for cooperation in the field of renewable energy and hydrogen development.
A statement issued by the Algerian Ministry of Energy stated that “Minister of Energy and Mines, Mohamed Arkab, received today, Tuesday, a delegation of American businessmen, led by the presidents of the Algerian-American Business Council, Ismail Chikhoun and David Welham.”
He pointed out that leaders from the Algerian Ministry of Energy and representatives of prominent American companies in the energy field attended the meeting.
The two sides pointed out the potential for great cooperation and investment opportunities that exist in the field of renewable energies and hydrogen development , as well as in the national seawater desalination program in the short and medium term, and the local industry of equipment in this field.
He continued that the two parties discussed the reality of cooperation relations between Algerian and American companies in the field of energy and mines, and the prospects for strengthening them. They reiterated the desire to intensify cooperation by studying all available opportunities in the fields of energy and mines.
In this context, the Algerian Minister of Energy and Mines stressed "the importance of cooperation and strategic partnership linking Algerian and American companies in the field of oil and gas."
Arkab presented “the strategy for developing the sector based on sending investments with the aim of increasing the production and transformation of oil and gas, in addition to the important investment and partnership opportunities provided by the sector, especially in the field of exploration, development and exploitation of hydrocarbons, as well as in the field of petrochemistry, digitization, technological solutions, reducing emissions and reducing the carbon footprint.”
He also expressed his hope to "see mutually beneficial partnerships and benefit from the advantages offered by the new hydrocarbons law. As well as the determination of the Algerian state to accompany, support and provide all facilities to partners in all stages of implementing these investments."