Israeli official: Egypt violating peace agreement with excess troops in Sinai

An Israeli security official told reporters that Egypt’s recently increased deployment of troops in the Sinai Peninsula violates the Israel-Egypt peace agreement.

“Egypt has deployed forces beyond the permitted quota, expanded port facilities, and extended runways at airports,” the official said, according to a report from the Jerusalem Post.

“Israel will not accept the situation and will not tolerate violations from Cairo,” he said.

The peace treaty in question was signed in Washington, D.C. in 1979, by U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

The peace treaty made Egypt the first Arab nation to officially recognize the State of Israel.

At the time, Israel had control of the Sinai Peninsula. While the agreement returned the territory to Egyptian control, it imposed restrictions on Egypt’s military presence.

“Washington is responsible for upholding the peace agreement and must ensure it is implemented as written,” the security official said.

This is not the first time an Israeli official has commented on the situation.

“Egypt is in a very serious violation of our peace agreement in the Sinai,” Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said earlier this year.

“This is an issue which is going to come to the fore, because this is not a tolerable situation,” he continued. “There are bases being built, and they can only be used for offensive operations and offensive weapons. This is a clear violation. For a long time, this issue has been shoved to the side, but it continues. This is an issue that we are going to put on the table – very soon and very emphatically."

Former Israeli Minister of Intelligence Yuval Steinitz told Ynet News at the time, “There is definitely reason to view Egypt’s military buildup with concern.”

“Relations between Israel and Egypt are currently stable, but if one day we become weak, everyone in the region will seize the opportunity,” Steinitz said.