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Sinai: The Strategic Pivot of Egypt-Israel Security Interdependence

(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) Dalia Ziada - The Sinai Peninsula has long been Egypt's Achilles' heel. It is a constant strategic concern for both Egypt and Israel. The Egyptian government's concerns are based on the consequences of the war with Hamas: an increase in refugee influx from Gaza, radicalization of Hamas sympathizers among the population, disturbances to Sinai's fragile security structure, and threats to the flow of world trade through the Suez Canal, one of Egypt's main sources of foreign currency income. Decades of pan-Arab nationalist rhetoric, layered with religious affinity, have ingrained in the Egyptian mindset a cultural and political connection to the Palestinian people and the "Palestinian cause." Yet, this empathy is sharply contrasted by visceral resistance to opening Sinai borders for the Gazans to take refuge from the war, even temporarily. The Egyptian people and government fear the influx of the Gaza refugees into Sinai more than they fear an armed conflict with Israel. The Palestinians, indoctrinated with poisonous ideas that honor violent resistance and suicidal victimhood, are often perceived as agents of trouble. Sinai's Bedouin tribes would not tolerate their presence. The writer, an Egyptian scholar, is a Senior Fellow at the Jerusalem Center.
2025-07-17 00:00:00
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