the Post reported that<\/a>, even as Turkey and Egypt are reconnecting in certain areas, senior Israeli defense sources sense opportunities for Israel and Cairo to work together to counterbalance Ankara\u2019s naval interests.<\/p>\nEgypt, Israel may realize benefit of coordinating against Turkey<\/p>\n
As both Israel and Egypt watched Iran tighten its grip over the Strait of Hormuz, the two may eventually agree on their shared interest in preventing Turkey from emerging as a rising power and posing a similar threat.<\/p>\n
Until now, Israel and Egypt\u2019s naval units have cooperated in international drills, but neither has been seriously challenged in the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n
But that is only one narrative; there are at least two others.<\/p>\n
Despite the optimistic narrative, Egyptian Defense Minister Ashraf Salem Zaher traveled to Ankara on July 13. This move, according to some pessimistic observers, represented a profound structural shift in the geopolitics of the eastern Mediterranean. The pessimistic narrative sees this as evidence that Egypt and Turkey are moving closer together \u2013 potentially against Israel.<\/p>\n
This is linked to the third narrative: that, until now, Turkey and Egypt have wanted nothing to do with one another. This narrative, which was true until last year, had a historical basis. For over a decade, the conflicting ideologies between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi were permanently embedded into the regional landscape. The two seemingly had no path for reconciliation.<\/p>\n
Sisi blamed Erdogan for supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, which took over Egypt from 2012-2013, and Erdogan blamed Sisi for ousting the Brotherhood from power.<\/p>\n
But Turkey and Egypt have been gaining something new, particularly in recent months. Sisi is securing access to advanced military technology from Turkey without Western interference, while Erdogan has gained a partner to legitimize his maritime ambitions.<\/p>\n
Moreover, the military cooperation between Cairo and Ankara has quickly evolved past superficial diplomacy into deep, structural integration. Their joint maneuvers over the past months showed what appeared to be an alarming level of operational alignment.<\/p>\n
Turkey\u2019s Anatolian Eagle aerial exercises integrated Egyptian pilots for training under simulated high-threat environments alongside Ankara\u2019s assets. This was immediately followed by the Egyptian Golden Eagle special forces drills, which focused on command interoperability on multiple fronts.<\/p>\n
According to some observers, these have not been routine bilateral military drills, but rather a process to synthesize the doctrines of two of the region\u2019s most powerful militaries.<\/p>\n
Cairo’s concerns about Ankara may align with Israel’s interests<\/p>\n
Senior Israel Navy sources believe that, despite the two\u2019s mended ties, Egypt\u2019s concerns about Turkey gaining a maritime advantage work in Israel\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n
Sisi has strong sensitivities about ongoing issues relating to Libya and other areas in which Erdogan may have decidedly different interests.<\/p>\n
The Post understands that, in these areas, Egypt could work together not just with Israel, but with Cyprus and Greece to counterbalance Turkey\u2019s aggression.<\/p>\n
In late June, Greece\u2019s Navy Chief, Vice-Admiral Dimitrios-Eleftherios Kataras, visited Israel with Israel Navy Chief Vice-Admiral Eyal Harel. This meeting included the Shayetet 13 Navy SEALs, and the two sides deepened the joint mechanisms between their navies.<\/p>\n
Some pessimists may view this alliance as a coalition of Israel, Cyprus, Greece, and a few European countries against Egypt and Turkey. However, regardless of the outcome between Egypt and Turkey, Israel still has its allies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Israel Navy is acting to deter Turkish maritime aggression, and in response to the Turkish navy traveling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":601930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[40919,5543,50,42,1031,93862,46,43,26719,4713,40,38,41,39,1582],"class_list":["post-601929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-ankara","tag-egypt","tag-gaza","tag-headlines","tag-idf","tag-international-stabilization-force-isf","tag-israel","tag-news","tag-recep-tayyip-erdogan","tag-syria","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-turkey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}