The
governments of Israel, Egypt and Jordan have entered an
intelligence-sharing agreement aimed at joining forces against the
Islamic State, which a senior Israeli military commander has described
as “unprecedented”. The comment was made on Wednesday by Major General
Yair Golan at a press conference hosted by Israel’s Foreign Press
Association. General Golan has been serving as Deputy Chief of the
General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces since late 2014.
Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem, General Golan said that
intelligence was “the most important element in the whole system” when
fighting an insurgency of the kind that the Islamic State is conducting
in the Middle East. He went on to point out that Egypt is currently
engaged in a war against Islamic State forces in the Sinai Peninsula,
while “Jordan is terrified by the presence of the Islamic State in [its]
cities and towns”. At the same time, Israel tries to “work with them in
order to contribute something to their security”, he added, referring
to Egypt and Jordan.
The two nations represent the only Arab countries that have signed
peace treaties with the Jewish state. A peace treaty between Israel and
Egypt was signed in 1979, whereas a similar agreement was struck between
Israel and Jordan 15 years later, in 1994. General Golan cited the
peace treaties between the three nations as the basis for the
intelligence-sharing agreement. But he added that he would not describe
the latter as “some sort of reconciliation” between Israel and the
people of Egypt and Jordan. However, the agreement is “a good starting
point”, he said, adding that he is “quite optimistic” about the future
of Israel’s relations with Jordan and Egypt.
Source:
https://intelnews.org/2016/04/21/01-1890/