February 8, 2011

Egypt and Israel's Changing Defense Strategy

By C. Hart
For 30 years now, Israel's peace treaty with Egypt has afforded the IDF (Israel's Defense Forces) the ability to build-up its forces, with little consideration of developments on its southwest border. Since the "cold peace" between both countries was established in 1979, Egypt's ability to confront Israel, militarily, has been neutralized. The IDF has not had to divert major resources to Israel's southern front, nor focus much attention on the de-militarized zone in the Sinai.  According to outgoing IDF Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, who gave a keynote address at the Israeli Herzliya Conference on February 7, 2011, Israel's defense strategies are now going through a process of change. The current uprising in Egypt came as a surprise to the IDF leader, but also to his counterpart in Egypt. Ashkenazi claimed that in the midst of regional tensions occurring with Arabs and non-Arabs, Sunnis and Shiites, and radicals and moderates, Israel was finding itself...(Read Full Article)