When Anwar Sadat withdrew from what was once called the Arab-Israeli conflict, he raised the slogan of focusing on peacetime development, and using the money previously allocated for defense on development. This was a slogan that tickled the fancy of ordinary poor Egyptians, and justified the defection of a certain class of politicians and intellectuals who were never concerned with the Palestinian issue, as they now found a niche for themselves in the new “Egypt First" regime. That class of politicians and intellectuals did not take into consideration their country's history, ancient and modern, or its clear strategies throughout all eras, from the Fatimids to the Mamluks all the way to Muhammad Ali – not to mention the more ancient history dating back to the era of the pharaohs. This strategy is based on protecting Sinai and the Levant on the one hand, and the African flank on the other. The class mentioned above thought that peace with Israel would change Egypt's geographical and historical reality, replacing facts with delusions that did not last long. Indeed, neither have the people found prosperity after Camp David, nor Israel ceased to be hostile. Instead, the Jewish state sought to tighten its siege on Egypt from all sides: On the Sinai front, where the peace accords disallow the Egyptian army to move freely, and where a statelet is emerging, possibly as part of the planned alternative homeland for the Palestinian people in Gaza. On the African front, Israel has always set its eyes on Lake Victoria, the headwaters of the Nile, and Egypt's immediate surroundings. Thus, it established strong relations with all the countries that the Nile flows through, inciting them against “Egyptian colonialism." In these countries, Israel backed all the groups that are hostile to the governments and that were once backed by Nasser during the decolonization period, including the separatist movement in South Sudan, which it armed and supported politically and financially. Today, Israel is taking advantage of its influence in the new state of South Sudan, and is putting a lot of effort to have Darfur secede from Khartoum. To be sure, the leader of the liberation movement for this part of Sudan, Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur, barely leaves Tel Aviv where he receives instructions (like Salva Kiir before him), and it is no secret that the Mossad and officers from the IDF are training Nur's fighters and even leading some of their battles. In truth, Israel's strategy since its inception has been based on sieging Egypt and the Levant with a hostile belt that once consisted of Turkey, the Shah's Iran, and Ethiopia. After the Iranian revolution, Israel strengthened its relations with Ankara and Addis Ababa to offset its lost ally in Tehran. These Israeli machinations are as old as the Jewish state itself. Nasser had tried to stand up to these plots with all his strength and alliances, and also through the Non-Aligned Movement, which included most of the African and Asian countries and a number of South American countries liberated from American hegemony. However, Sadat put an end to all this strategic policy, and did not show any interest in Africa or i the Levant. The same goes for his successor, even when Israel occupied Lebanon. Mubarak did not care much for Africa either, and contented himself with acting like a referee between his children and businessmen, managing the commercial and financial game and sharing it with senior officers. The Egyptians realized that this policy is erroneous and understood its threat to their national security. Consequently, they took to the public squares to reform whatever could be reformed. Yet, the counter-revolution proved to be stronger, and all those who came to power afterwards want only one thing, i.e. to remain in power, preserve the treaty with Israel, and ensure continued US financial support – a bribery to remain outside of the conflict. After such a long period of compromised national security, something that is well documented in books and studies, the new regime in Cairo has no right to be surprised when Ethiopia decides to build, in cooperation with Israel, a dam on the Nile, that at best can be described as an attempt to starve the Egyptians and turn their country into a desert. As Al-Mutannabi's poem goes, the “Custodians of Egypt have slumbered," and for so long. So will the Ethiopian dam awaken them?
