The former head of Israel's National Security Council, Uzi Dayan, called for carrying out Israeli military operations inside of the Sinai Peninsula if the Egyptian government is not able to secure the border. “This is the time for the Israeli army to prevail its control inside Sinai,” Dayan told Israel's Channel 7. Dayan defended his position, saying that the operations aim would be to kill terrorists who represent a threat to Israel's security. He added that he met with Israeli Army Chief of Staff Benny Jants a week ago to discuss the situation in South Israel and the Sinai Peninsula, but did not go into further details. “Israeli military and security branches should prepare for a period different from the past one in dealing with Egypt,” Dayan continued, referring to Egyptian-Israeli relations under former president Hosni Mubarak. Dayan said Israel wants to preserve the Peace Treaty with Egypt but at the same time it has a duty to protect its Israeli citizens while not seeking to escalate tension in the south. Dayan said his country does not want the Egypt-Israel borders turn into terror zone, so the Israeli government should “respond strongly by pursuing the terrorists and to inform the Egyptian government that we may militarily intervene in Sinai.” He added that Israel has to put pressure on Egypt to secure the border and to not violate the Peace convention.
