Understanding the Eilat Attack



New Phase in War -Barry Rubin

This isn’t just another terrorist attack — it’s a major escalation, a new phase in the Arab-Israeli conflict in two ways. First, it is the bitter fruit of the U.S-backed downfall of the government of President Husni Mubarak in Egypt, opening the Egypt-Israel border as a new front in the war. Second, it is probably the first successful al-Qaeda attack on Israel. (The Palestinian Popular Committees, a Gaza-based al-Qaeda affiliate is the prime suspect.)

A group of up to 20 terrorists from the Gaza Strip travelled through Egypt using vehicles, then went through the Egyptian border area without any apparent difficulty. Approaching the Egypt-Israel border they fired at a regularly scheduled public bus and cars on highway 12 — a road between Beersheva and Eilat, then entered Israeli territory. Their armaments included mortars and an RPG, as well as handguns. Soldiers engaged the terrorists in a firefight. Several soldiers were wounded; seven terrorists were killed.

According to several eyewitnesses, the attackers were wearing Egyptian army uniforms, a detail which if true is going to be a major issue. Stolen or sold or provided by low-level sympathizers in the Egyptian army? And the site of the attack was near an Egyptian army outpost which — so far as we know now –didn’t do anything about it. One eyewitness said a terrorist was firing from an Egyptian army position. Again, these details will have to be checked by an investigation.

This is a very sophisticated and complex operation.
 
Have no doubt: This is not just an isolated incident but the opening of a new phase. It will get worse. At a minimum, Israel will have to devote a lot more of its limited resources to guarding the Egypt-Israel border.
 
Given U.S. policy, nothing can be expected from Washington except words of dismay. The Egyptian regime will assure everyone that it is committed to the peace treaty and will take strong action.  Both Hamas and Fatah sites feature rejoicing at the killing of Israelis. Nobody [Palestinian] is critical of the attacks.
[Pajamas Media]

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UPDATES: 

Coordinated Terrorist Attacks -Anshel Pfeffer

IDF officials believe the [unrealized] goal of the attack was to kidnap a soldier.
(Ha'aretz)
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Netanyahu Strikes Back

Prime Minister Netanyahu said: "We witnessed today an attempt to escalate the terrorist war against Israel by launching attacks from Sinai.... When the citizens of Israel are attacked, we respond immediately and with strength.... Those who gave the order to murder our citizens, while hiding in Gaza, are no longer among the living."
(Prime Minister's Office)
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Vacuum in Sinai -Avi Issacharoff

Thursday's attack was one of the worst terror attacks Israel has experienced in recent years. Israel's warnings of the implications of the Egyptian regime's weakening following the revolution, warnings that were roundly criticized in the world, turned out to be correct and even relatively optimistic. About six months after Hosni Mubrak was deposed, Sinai constitutes a shelter for World Jihad activists. Another attack like this one is only a matter of time.
(Ha'aretz)
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PA Silence over Terror Raises Questions about Statehood -Herb Keinon

The Palestinian silence regarding Thursday’s terrorist attack in the South was “deafening,” and raises serious questions about the Palestinian Authority’s readiness for independence, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev said.

Government sources noted that even Arafat would issue pro-forma condemnations of violence during the height of the second intifada, something the PA leadership has not yet done since Thursday’s attack.
(Jerusalem Post)
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