JERUSALEM—Egyptian warplanes have penetrated Israeli air space several times in recent months, according to the Israeli-based Ynet news site.
Unlike last month’s brief penetration of Turkish air space by Russian warplanes, which touched off a mounting crisis between the two countries, Israel has not reacted to the alleged Egyptian overflights and may even have given its approval to them beforehand, Ynet reported.
The Egyptian planes were reportedly attacking encampments of an ISIS affiliate in the Sinai Peninsula adjacent to Israel’s southern Negev. These sites were apparently more accessible to air attack when approached from the nearby Israeli border.
For most of the time since the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in 1979, Israel has insisted on a close reading of the treaty terms, which strictly limited the Egyptian security presence near the Israeli border. In order to forestall any surprise attack on Israel, as occurred in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Egyptian armored forces were banned from the area as were military aircraft while forces on the ground were severely restricted in size.
Four years ago, when Islamist forces began to emerge in eastern Sinai, Israel eased its restrictions in order to permit Egypt to wage war against the jihadists more effectively. Tanks and other armored vehicles were permitted entry to the area as well as substantial numbers of foot soldiers and police. Israel even permitted attack helicopters and warplanes to operate close to its border.
Israeli intelligence units cooperate closely with their Egyptian counterparts in an effort to curb the growing strength of the jihadi organization, the most efficient of all of Islamic State’s foreign "franchises". (The Sinai group has formally pledged fealty to Islamic State’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.) The group has been killing dozens of Egyptian security personnel every month. It succeeded last month in planting a bomb that brought down a Russian airline returning from the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 persons aboard, apparently in retaliation for the Russian bombing campaign against ISIS in Syria.
Egypt, the largest country in the Arab world and with the largest army, was for decades Israel’s most formidable opponent. But as the Middle East undergoes shifts in allegiance, Israel and Egypt have become unofficial but meaningful allies against a common foe.