Israel must press Egypt on Sinai

Wednesday's rocket fire on Eilat was seemingly "just" another security incident, nothing to write home about in the absence of any injuries or damage.

But Eilat is not "just" another city and the significance of hitting it is greater, not because its residents' blood is a different shade of red, but because of what it has come to symbolize: a carefree resort town where one goes to relax and leave one's daily woes behind. Unlike other cities, Eilat is also completely dependent on tourism, which is bound to be affected if the rocket fire continues. For Eilat, rocket fire can truly be a deathblow.

The defense establishment understands that and, prompted by intelligence indicating increased terror activity, it deployed an Iron Dome battery near the city two weeks ago. It was an accurate assessment of the security situation, which failed to yield results: thesystem did not interceptthe rockets.

The system was not activated for various reasons. The defense establishment must often find ways to balance security needs with the need to maintain the fabric of normal civilian life, and this requires taking calculated risks. Everything worked out on Tuesday (there were no injuries), but the situation still requires finding better long-term solutions.

Alongside bolstering its own defenses, Israel must also pressure Egypt to increase its counterterrorism efforts in Sinai. In the past, rocket fire on Eilat was the work of Palestinian terror groups based in Gaza. Thus, the Israel Defense Forces could apply its leverage in the Gaza Strip to act against or punish the perpetrators or those who sent them. But recent incidents were the work of Sinai-based terror groups affiliated with global jihad, which Israel cannot truly reach, directly or indirectly.

In the absence of an ability to retaliate inside Sinai — to protect the Israel-Egypt peace treaty — Israel is very much at the mercy of the Egyptians, who must be made to understand that if they turn a blind eye to the terror directed at Eilat, they will soon find it directed against their own forces in Sinai.

Cairo is currently too busy with economic and political problems to take any real action in Sinai, effectively allowing extremists to gain a greater foothold in the peninsula. This means that the next attack on Eilat is only a matter of time.

Tuesday was the first time in Eilat's history that a real-time siren sounded in the city. The next time rockets are fired at the city it might, heaven forbid, join another dubious club — that of damage and casualties.