“If we don't control adequately our territory, and then rockets are fired at Eilat, killing 15-20 tourists, how should we react to that? We are responsible for our territory.” These comments made by President-elect Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in a May 22 campaign interview, in Arabic, were music to the ears of Israel’s defense establishment. Not since the 1979 peace accords were drafted has an Egyptian leader been so dedicated to safeguarding the Israeli border in both actions and now in rhetoric. Make no mistake; in Egypt, the latter is far more politically risky.
Egyptian officials I’ve spoken with confirm Sisi’s working relationship with Israel. Those ties were established after Sisi was appointed as intelligence chief, then strengthened after his appointment as defense minister under former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, and then even more so under the following transitional government.