Jerusalem, Israel – The Obama Administration is stepping in to ensure that tensions between Middle East superpowers Israel and Egypt do not progress any further towards armed conflict. Disputes about cross border violence and disruptions of natural gas supplies have brought tensions between the two countries to a boil.
The Chairman of Egypt’s Supreme Military Council,Field Marshal Muhammad Tantawi said,
“If anyone comes near Egypt’s border, we will break their leg.”
Egypt’s Second Army chief, Gen. Muhammad Higazi added,
“Aggressors should reconsider before thinking of attacking any part of Egyptian territory.”
These remarks were directed solely at Israel. According to Israeli Intelligence website DEBKA, President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were warned by their own intelligence services that Egypt and Israel stood on the brink of war. Two potential situations had the ability to lead to fighting.
Egypt is bound by the 1979 peace treaty to supply Israel with natural gas from Sinai. As of right now the pipelines going into Israel have been sabotaged and there has been no gas. Also, terrorists aligned with Al-Qaeda and Palestinian terror groups are planning cross border attacks to interrupt Israel’s Independence Day celebration which will take place on Thursday. Their object: to whip up a storm to blow up the 1979 Egyptian-Israel peace accords.
Already, Gazan terrorists fired two grad missiles at the Israeli resort city of Eilat. They were fired from Egyptian territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak reportedly were all that stood int he way of an Israeli military reprisal.
According to DEBKA’s sources Washington has been actively trying to calm the situation. Egypt has dispatched their Ambassador to Tel Aviv to tell the press that the tensions were of a commercial nature and not political. The Israeli’s dispatched foreign ministry heads to Egypt to discuss ways to calm the tension. Sources say the next 48 hours will be critical.
