Are Egyptian Troops Stationed In The Sinai To Exert Full Egyptian Sovereignty There? (Updated)

Questions remain as to what Egypt is doing in the Sinai.

I wrote a few posts on the fact that despite their claims, Egypt does not seem to be in the Sinai to chase after terrorists.

It appears that Dr. Aaron Lerner's is correct when he warned: Egypt is aiming to exert its sovereignty in the Sinai:

For years the Egyptians have been trying to erode the Sinai force restrictions set in the peace treaty they signed with Israel. Force restrictions that were a necessary condition for Israel agreeing to restore the Sinai to Egyptian control.

The Egyptians see the force restrictions as impinging on their sovereignty.

We always considered the force restrictions as critical for the Jewish State’s national security and, frankly speaking, with the Moslem Brotherhood leading Egypt, we need the force restrictions more than ever.

This evening we find ourselves with massive Egyptian forces deployed literally on our border.

He suggested that Israel get Egypt to state very clearly just how long they will stay and exactly when they will pull out.

So far, no word if Egypt has issue a statement.

Keep in mind that those forces include tanks, attack helicopters and mobile artillery--among other armaments, and there is no indication how long Egypt plans to keep all of this deployed near Israel's border.

Dr. Lerner offers the following possible scenario, noting that according to the treaty, Egypt can put as many police as it wants near the border:

To repeat: Egypt can have tanks, attack helicopters, etc. in the area for a few days, but beyond that they are going to have to make do with forces in police uniforms carrying the kinds of weapons that police can bear. And given that Egypt can take its most elite commando units and do the paperwork to make them police and deploy them in the border area they can most definitely get the job done – if they want – and still honor the treaty.[emphasis added]

Keeping this in mind, it should come as no surprise that Egyptian president Morsi wants to exert complete Egyptian sovereignty over all of the Sinai:

Adviser: Morsy studying Camp David Accords amendment issue

President Mohamed Morsy is studying whether to amend the Camp David Accords to ensure Egypt’s full sovereignty and control over every inch of Sinai, said Mohamed Gadallah, legal adviser to the president.

Calls for amending the peace treaty with Israel, which also governs the security presence in the Sinai Peninsula, have been on the rise since last week’s attack on a military checkpoint at the border left 16 Egyptian security officers dead.

Former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi called for the amendments Saturday. The Revolutionary Youth Union has filed a lawsuit before an administrative court demanding that the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel be amended.

One can of course say that this is all talk, talk we have heard before.

Just keep in mind that that this talk comes at a time that Morsi already has his foot in the door with armed troops in the Sinai which according to residents of the area are basically doing nothing.

UPDATE: I see that Joe Settler posted about this yesterday on The Muqata: Who Gained From the Sinai Attack?:

I’ve been wavering back and forth on this, but more and more people I’ve proposed this theory to are beginning to say that there might be something to it. Last week’s Sinai attack is still a mystery. A bunch of Palestinian terrorists kill the soldiers of a Muslim Brotherhood run country, all to get 2 APC vehicles with which to attack Israel! That’s very, very strange. The first questions I asked were, who could be responsible, and what might they gain from it? Other than the answer that the Palestinians are crazy and just like killing people (which we know to be true), there’s only one other answer that keeps popping up. At first my friends thought the idea was too sophisticated for them to pull off. But now they’re not so sure. The only group that gains by an Islamic group's attack on the Egyptian army is Egyptian President Morsy and his Muslim Brotherhood.

Read the whole thing.

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