Israel’s second largest base is on Eritrea’s Dahlak Islands
A lodge on an island (Dahlak Kebir – Photo Dawit Rezene) |
- The geostrategic importance of the 360 Eritrean islands, especially Dahlak and Fatma islands. They are located in the southern gateway of the Red Sea occupying some 1080 kilometers. The two islands have important features that affect the international and regional naval balance. The two islands can also be used for stationing marine and land forces and for monitoring all naval activities in the region. Israel thought that by controlling these islands it can avoid any Arab attempts to impose a naval blockade on Israel under any circumstances. Israel’s presence on the islands will also stop the Red Sea from turning into Arab waters.
- Another advantage is the importance of Eritrea’s location in serving the Israeli strategies in motoring and spying on Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Sudan. The three countries are not Israel’s allies. In 1998, the British “Foreign Report” bulletin, specializing in intelligence affairs, reported that Israel maintains close intelligence relations with Ethiopia and Eritrea, and that the Israeli spy agency Mossad has established in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, a center for gathering intelligence information.
The reporter can be reached for comments at msalahuddin@makpublish.com