Israeli political and military circles are taking a serious view of the possibility that Egypt may use the reopening of the Suez Canal on June 5 as a pretext for military action in Sinai aimed at driving Israeli forces beyond artillery range of the waterway. Arab military commentators have predicted that President Anwar Sadat may send as many as five divisions across the canal before it is officially reopened to commercial shipping, Israeli sources said today.
Sadat would attempt to justify his move by the need to protect ships using the canal from possible Israeli attack. Hisham Abdallah, a military commentator writing in the Lebanese newspaper Al Clad, said recently that Egypt’s economic plans for the Suez Canal zone would be endangered as long as Israeli forces remain in the Gidi and Mitle Passes that are within artillery range of the canal; therefore, it is logical to assume that the Egyptians will open military action to push the Israelis from the passes, Abdallah wrote.
Israeli military sources say that the Egyptians have the ability to move large military forces across the canal in a matter of hours without seriously interrupting maritime traffic. They are considering the possibility that President Sadat may send troops into the limited forces zone on the east bank of the canal shortly before the June 5 opening date and precipitate skirmishes with Israeli forces. This, of course, would be a major violation of the January, 1974 disengagement accord.
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