Why is Saudi Arabia capturing Eilat Islands now?

Written by Nasser Kandil,

The two islands of Tiran and Sanafir are located near Sinai Peninsula coast, there is no residents in them, the Egyptian troops have entered them before the war 1967 to close what is known as the Strait of Tiran which closes the navigation door in front of Israel through the port of Eilat, while the history of the Egyptian sovereignty over the two islands belonged to 1950 according to Saudi Egyptian common narration says that the King Abdul Aziz asked King Farouk to deploy the Egyptian army across them to prevent any Israeli attack against them, while Egyptian researchers, diplomats, and advocates of human rights agree on considering the two islands an organic part of Sinai, and from Egypt depending on old Ottoman documentation.

The issue today is not the sovereign dignity on the two islands despite the explosion of this issue in Egypt and turning into an issue of the public opinion, there are leakages about that Saudi Arabia has paid an amount of two billion US dollars in exchange of the Egyptian abandonment of the sovereignty over the two islands, the issue today is why does Saudi Arabia ask to recapture the two islands after approximately forty years for signing Camp David Accords which return the two islands to the Egyptian sovereignty and prevent the localization of the Egyptian army there?

Certainly without the Israeli approval and under Camp David Accords as well as according to the political reality of the rule in Egypt the Egyptian government cannot made this step, certainly it is neither in the consideration of Egypt nor in Saudi Arabia’s to annoy Israel or to excite it, nor the islands represent something important but only in the requirements of the civil and military Israeli security because of their opposite site to Eilat port, so why will Egypt and Saudi Arabia open sleeping worthless file that arouses Israel?.

It is clear that Israel as its newspapers say in details that it welcomes the step and considers it a useful one to invest what the geography granted of opportunities for the connection between Israel and its neighbors, it considers the Saudi return to the islands an opportunity for a developmental, tourist and commercial cooperation and others by making it a joining point of the Egyptian Israel Saudi triangle, especially with the Israeli aspiration towards making use of the land bridge between Egypt and Saudi Arabia and extending its byroads toward Sinai across the islands, so this allows of the easy geographical connection between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Some reports talk about Israel Saudi agreement for two functions of the islands that interpret the timing. First, to dilate Saudi oil pipelines toward Europe across the islands, from Sinai Peninsula to the occupied territories till Haifa port, as well as to save the oil bill which Israel consumes from the revenues of these pipes, which Israel will be responsible for promoting their oils in the Free Market by making Haifa the Rotterdam of the Mediterranean Sea, after this role has been hindered because of the failure of Israel in the war of July 2006 regarding what has been decided if the war has succeeded, through dilating a sub pipeline from Nabucco network that coming from Kazakhstan to Ceyhan the Turkish port to Haifa in order to play this role as a free oil market before the continuation of this pipeline to its path till Ashkelon and the Red Sea to ensure the oil of China and India whether there is an American war that happens with Iran and leads to the closure of Strait of Hormuz.

The Second function of the islands is though the Saudi-Israeli cooperation, according to Western reports this function is by providing a secure shelter for the intelligence cooperation including the deployment of military intervention units, radars, satellites and eavesdropping platforms and electronic warfare within the frame of the understanding on unified criteria for the war on terrorism and identifying the friend and the army.

Egypt will gain one quarter of the revenues of the natural resources in the two islands which means zero revenues; however it will be affected by the fragments of the common Saudi Israeli use of the two islands, some say that the land bridge which will be from Saudi Arabia to Haifa across the two islands will lead to the closure of the Suez Canal.

Translated by Lina Shehadeh,