Watan-A high-ranking former official in the Mossad and military intelligence, retired in 2019, blamed the Egyptian regime for the October 7 attack and the Operation Flood of Al-Aqsa, stating that Cairo does not directly attack Israel but its “indifference” and failure to act allowed Hamas to prepare its attack against Israel. He emphasized that if we don’t acknowledge the problem, we won’t be able to address it.
According to an opinion article he wrote published by the Hebrew newspaper “Haaretz” without revealing his identity, the prominent Mossad official stated that “the October 7th war is not just an event between Israel and Hamas, or between Israel and Iran’s proxies, but it shakes and changes the face of the Middle East, shedding light on areas we haven’t dealt with yet.”
He continued, explaining: “For years, we have ignored the weakness of the government in Egypt, and the corruption of the military elite in the country, and we refused to see how this enabled Hamas to acquire weapons. If we want to address the problem of Gaza, we need to talk about the problem of Egypt.”
The former Mossad officer mentioned that he had visited Cairo hundreds of times during his service in the Mossad and military intelligence, holding meetings at the General Intelligence headquarters.
He elaborated: “Egypt is a poor and broken country, ruled by a wealthy military elite whose members are adept at secretly consulting with their Western guests, sometimes providing them with intelligence information and extraordinary capabilities.”
Speaking about Egyptian intelligence officers, he said, “They have always been very hospitable hosts, and in this way, they gained the trust of Westerners, but beneath the surface and beneath the elegant intelligence officer uniforms, there is a problem.”
In his article, he also mentioned: “We have warned dozens of times about the entry of weapons into the Gaza Strip, and how it would eventually lead to a war that would harm Israel and also endanger Egypt.”
He said in his article in Haaretz: “Countless anti-tank missiles have been launched at our forces, causing significant losses since the beginning of the current war. These missiles came from Egypt, and the government in Cairo is primarily responsible for building Hamas’s military power and making it what it is today.”
Sinai and arms smuggling to Gaza
The writer accused Egypt of not controlling Sinai, where Egyptian police officers are present but their salaries are low and they are bought with bribes for a hundred dollars or less.
He described them as “turning a blind eye to anything,” just as the leaders of the Egyptian army, who control the Egyptian economy, personally benefit from chaos and bribery.
Bedouin gangs in Sinai control the smuggling of weapons to Gaza by land and sea in Arish, and when we warned the Egyptians about the weapons reaching Gaza, sometimes they paid attention to it, sometimes they tried to address the issue, and sometimes they turned a blind eye to it, said the former Mossad officer.
According to the writer’s allegations, Egyptian intelligence officials were aware of the arms smuggling and the departure of Hamas members from the Strip for training abroad, but they thought that if they didn’t confront the organization, they would buy peace at a cheap price, which is a big mistake, he said.
Enough meetings in luxury restaurants in Cairo
He added, criticizing the Egyptian regime and its intelligence agencies: “They have deceived us for a long time to believe that they have strong intelligence coverage in Gaza and the ability to reach Hamas… but I don’t think they were aware of the October 7 attack in advance, and they also bought into Hamas’s calm and lies, and their relationships with the movement didn’t help in securing the release of prisoners,” he said.
He continued: “Qatar was responsible for the first hostage deal, where Doha acts responsibly and works around the clock to find a solution, while the Egyptians cannot offer anything.”
The writer, a former Mossad officer, pointed out that “if we want to solve the problem of Gaza, we need to make sure the ship doesn’t leak anything inside. There’s no use plugging holes on one side when water can enter from the other side.”
He concluded his article in Haaretz by saying, “Enough meetings in luxury restaurants in Cairo, it’s time for fieldwork in Rafah.”