Egypt has allowed over 2,000 Hamas-led pilgrims back into the Gaza Strip as relations rapidly worsen between Israel and Egypt. These pilgrims are thought to have been carrying over $150 million donated by Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, enough to pay off Hamas’s deficit and keep its military operations going until April 2008. It is also reported Egypt allowed 300 Palestinian terrorists that it had detained to return among the pilgrims.

Regarded as Israel’s single most important neighbor, Egypt has been really putting that relationship to the test lately. Its recent actions not only break agreements Egypt made with Israel about border security in 2005, but also an agreement Egypt made only last week.

It was only last week that Israel complained that Egypt was not doing enough for border security. The Israelis even had videos showing Egyptian border patrols helping smugglers. Israeli Foreign Minister Tizipi Livni accused Egypt of doing a “terrible job” of securing the border. Although it dismissed Israel’s accusations, Egypt promised to make the returning pilgrims travel through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom checkpoint.

Exactly a week later, Egypt broke its promise and allowed the Palestinians to return through Rafah, a checkpoint entirely under Hamas’s control.

This is just one event in a growing catalog of Egyptian-Israeli disagreements. Remarkably, however, Egypt blames the tension on Israel. If Israel “continues to push and affect U.S.-Egyptian relations and harm Egyptian interests, for sure Egypt will retaliate and will harm their interests,” said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on Egyptian television Monday. “We have claws capable of retaliating in all directions, and through diplomacy.”

This is how the Jerusalem Post assessed the unsavory situation: Egypt “could easily force Israel into a foreseen and preventable war in Gaza. Egyptian irresponsibility is risking Israeli lives, harming Israeli security, and working directly counter to the international goal of isolating Hamas and bolstering an Israeli-Palestinian negotiating process. If anything, our leaders have not spoken out early and forcefully enough on this issue, and should certainly not stop pressing Israel’s case now.”

Egypt is of great strategic importance to Israel. Its friendliness has been a key component in Israeli security over the past few decades. As theTrumpet.com wrote last month:

Egypt’s antipathy toward Iran has been a pillar of Israel’s national security equation and a tremendous source of national confidence. The belief that Egyptian-Iranian relations are non-existent has enabled Israeli security officials to sleep at night. Tehran might have Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, they think as they nod off, but we’ve got Egypt. We’ll be fine.

These recent events show just how quickly Egypt is becoming radicalized and growing in anti-Israelism. In fact, Egypt is becoming ever closer to Iran—an incredibly worrying development in terms of Israel’s security. For more information on this disturbing trend, read “Egypt-Iran Alliance Prophesied.”