24th May – israeltoday.co.il – Egyptian military forces on Sunday concluded maneuvers in the Sinai Peninsula that simulated an invasion of southern Israel.
Dubbed “Badr-2010,” the exercise featured an armed crossing of the Suez Canal followed by a deep thrust into “enemy territory,” reported the Middle East News Agency (MENA). The only “enemy” territory west of the Suez Canal is Israel.
Israel has repeated protested Egyptian military maneuvers in which the unidentified enemy is obviously Israel. Egypt and Israel signed a peace deal in 1979, and as a reward Egypt was granted ongoing US military aid and equipment that would make up the bulk of the arms used in any future attack on Israel.
The Egyptian exercise was almost ignored by the media, which instead focused on a Israeli defensive maneuvers in northern Israel that simulated a Hizballah missile attack on the Jewish state. Unlike the Egyptian exercise, the Israeli maneuver was held in response to very real threats of attack by Hizballah, and were purely defensive in nature.
Nor is Israel at peace with Hizballah or its Lebanese hosts. Egypt is at peace with Israel, but continues to treat it as an enemy nevertheless.
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