Sinai is another tinderbox

Opinion: July 24, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

The Middle East can look like a fireworks display firing out of control. There’s so much going on you don’t know where to look. One place that urgently warrants closer attention is the Egypt’s lawless Sinai Peninsula, which risks becoming the flashpoint that sets fire to the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.

At this moment, neither Egypt nor Israel wants peace to collapse. But the political chaos in Egypt has created a dangerous situation in the small desert peninsula that separates the two countries, and there are groups already working to exploit the instability.

The growing danger was a topic of discussion during Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent visit to the region. And it was highlighted by the kidnapping of two American tourists who were visiting Sinai.

The problem is security, but it comes drenched in flammable politics.

When the Tahrir Square uprising began, Egypt started to lose control of the Sinai, an area that has already stood at the heart of the complicated relationship between Israel and Egypt.

Camp David accords

Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt after the 1978 Camp David Agreements. The peninsula’s Red Sea beaches have become a major source of tourist revenue and jobs for Egypt, with thousands of tourists visiting every year, many of them from Israel. But the native population, mainly Bedouin tribes, has seethed with resentment as the central government in Cairo has neglected its needs.

The Bedouin that populate the area have been joined by a growing number of Islamist radicals, some freed or escaped from Egyptian prisons, others making the Jihadi pilgrimage from places like Afghanistan and Pakistan. Several reports, including many from local residents, say the militants have built small Jihadi training camps near the Israeli border. The presence of the polite, bearded foreigners is an ominous reminder that an outbreak of fighting would place them in the crossfire.

Many Bedouins make their living on the margins of the law, smuggling arms and other goods to the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip, which borders Egypt’s Sinai. They have also smuggled people, bringing migrants from Africa across the border into Israel.

The months since the fall of the Mubarak regime have brought countless bombings of the natural gas pipeline that carried fuel from Egypt to Israel and Jordan. It has also seen a sharp escalation in the number of kidnappings for ransom and, most troubling, a major uptick in attempted terrorist attacks against Israel. I say most troubling, because this is the kind of activity that could trigger a war between Egypt and Israel.

On June 18, militants crossed from Sinai into Israel and fired rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikov rifles, killing an Israeli construction worker.

Aviv Kochavi the Israeli military’s intelligence chief, told Israel’s parliament that the country’s military forces have stopped about a dozen attacks from Sinai.

Deadliest incident

In the deadliest incident, which occurred in August of last year, eight Israelis were killed when terrorists infiltrated through Sinai into Israel near the resort city of Eilat. In the battle that ensued, Israeli soldiers killed the attackers. But they also accidentally killed five Egyptian police officers.

The tragedy triggered the worst crisis in decades between Israel and Egypt. A mob in Cairo assaulted the Israeli embassy, coming close to killing Israeli diplomats who had to flee for their lives.

Persistent attacks against Israeli civilians from militants based on the Egyptian side of the border create pressure for a response. But Israel wants to avoid a cross-border confrontation with Egypt’s fledgling new government.

Complicating the situation, the Sinai counts a large multinational military observer force, including several hundred American (and Colombian) soldiers, part of the Camp David peace deal, aiming to prevent a recurrence of hostilities.

The treaty also limits the number of Egyptian soldiers allowed in the buffer zone. Israel has agreed to let more Egyptian forces enter, but with the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Israelis are even more nervous about allowing the massing of Egyptian military forces at their border.

Ironically, the brewing crisis on the Sinai Peninsula will force Israel and Egypt to work together, since both countries, at least right now, have the common goal of ending the lawlessness. It’s a joint challenge, but a difficult and dangerous one.

Frida Ghitis writes about global affairs for The Miami Herald. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.