Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's adviser Yonatan Urich said on Tuesday that Egypt was not the Arab state identified in reports about an alleged proposal to pursue a diplomatic agreement with Israel as a tactical means of lowering Israeli vigilance while preparations for a future war continued.
A brief post by Urich sparked a new controversy in Israel's diplomatic and security establishment and renewed concerns over a possible strategic deception operation against the country.
Responding to a Kan 11 report on Monday that a country in the region had proposed that another Arab state reach a diplomatic agreement with Israel in order to "put it to sleep" while continuing preparations for war, Urich wrote: "It is not Egypt."
Urich's clarification came amid growing concerns in Jerusalem that the reported plan could represent an updated, broader, and significantly more dangerous version of the deception employed by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in 2018.
At the time, Sinwar's statements that he "did not want any more wars" helped reinforce the prevailing assessment that ultimately contributed to the intelligence and security failures surrounding the October 7 attack. This time, however, the more severe interpretation within Israel's security establishment warns of the possibility of a similar deception carried out by a country with a strong, well-equipped conventional military.
Israel knew Arab countries aiming for deception, reports say
Details published on Monday by N12 underscored the depth of the intelligence confrontation. According to the reports, Israel's political and security leadership has possessed the dramatic intelligence for many months.
The information concerns conversations held at the highest levels, during which an Arab leader allegedly proposed to his counterpart that they sign an agreement with Israel solely as a tactical measure, then launch a military campaign at a time convenient for them.
Israel has reportedly been operating for an extended period with full knowledge of the contents of those conversations, while the two countries involved remain unaware that their secret has been exposed.
The intelligence is already having a significant chilling effect on Israeli decision-making and is directly influencing the country's security and diplomatic preparations. It also raises questions regarding US efforts to expand the Abraham Accords and broaden the circle of diplomatic relations in the region.
Middle East power balance shifting with new Mecca Agreement
The development comes amid structural changes in the regional balance of power. Alongside the direct confrontation with Iran, the "Mecca Agreement," a trilateral defense alliance between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan, was recently signed. The agreement stipulates that an attack on one of the three countries would be considered an attack on all of them.
Although Turkey has sought to reassure Tehran and has clarified that the alliance is not directed against Iran, the possibility of bringing Egypt into the agreement has already been raised in Ankara, a step that could fundamentally alter Israel's threat landscape.