The Saudi-Egyptian agreement to build a bridge over the Red Sea joining the two countries by road will deprive Israel of an important strategic advantage: the split between Arab countries to the east and west that Israel considers so critical to its geographical security, said former Assistant Foreign Minister Hussein Haridy.
Haridy told Russian news agency Sputnik on Sunday that the separation between the Levant and the Maghreb, and the separation between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon has been part of Israel's geographical security since the state was founded in 1948.
"Any threat of force or actual use of force by Israel against this project will be considered a serious breach of the peace treaty with Egypt," he said.
It was stated on the Israeli radio station Hebrew Radio that building a bridge over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir — both located at the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba — will pose a strategic threat to Israel, as it could potentially obstruct the free passage of ships in and out of the Israeli port of Eilat. The radio station cited Article Five of the Camp David agreement, which delineates the Strait of Tiran and the Gulf of Aqaba as open international waterways.
Dr. Yoram Meital, an expert on Egypt at Ben Gurion University, assured readers of Israeli newspaper Haaretz that relations between Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been growing stronger, meaning that Israel should not have a reason to oppose the planned bridge.
Haridy, however, accused Israel of "trying to exploit any opportunity to the maximum".
The 50 kilometer-long bridge is planned to extend from Sharm El Sheikh to Ras Alsheikh Hamid in Tabuk, northern Saudi Arabia, connecting across the Tiran Island.
The bridge proposal is the latest in a series of large-scale national projects to be announced by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. According to official sources, the president has proposed that the bridge be named “the King Salman and Sykes-Picot Bridge”, after King Salman bin Abdel Aziz of Saudi Arabia, who has been in Cairo for a five-day visit, signing several bilateral deals.
The Saudi newspaper Al-Riyadh described the project as the realization of a great vision for tomorrow, seeking to “join the two continents of Asia and Africa by connecting Saudi Arabia to Egypt over the water.”
