With mounting violence in Cairo and much uncertainty regarding Egypt’s future, the IDF has formed a new intelligence battalion to focus on the events as they unfold in Egypt. The members of the new intelligence corps team are undergoing training to prepare them for the assignment, and soldiers will operate in a number of areas, including along the Egyptian border and the border to Jordan.

Officials are carefully monitoring the unrests in Cairo, and at present, one cannot know what the new government of Egypt will look like and how much of an influence the Islamic Brotherhood will have in such a coalition.

The once quiet border is now regarded as more of a threat, as was seen in the summer when heavily armed terrorists crossed into southern Israel and perpetrated a deadly multipronged terror attack near Eilat, an attack connecting to al-Qaeda that claimed eight lives.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz recently stated that the now-open border to Egypt will be totally closed by the end of 2012, with work continuing at a brisk pace towards achieving this goal.

In addition to terror threats, the open border has resulted in tens of thousands of illegal aliens crossing into Israel in search of employ met and a better life, resulting in many problems in southern Tel Aviv, where many of the illegals have settled, including an alarmingly sharp increase in violent crime.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)