One Muslim Brotherhood website in Egypt claimed they blame Israel for the Sinai Police station attack that killed 16. The Brotherhood said the violence was an attempt to hinder Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. The statement said that it was becoming “imperative to review clauses” in the peace treaty agreement between Egypt and Israel. The group said on its website, “This crime can be attributed to the Mossad, which has been seeking to abort the revolution since its inception and the proof of this is that it gave instructions to its Zionist citizens in Sinai to depart immediately a few days ago.”

Egypt also branded the Islamist gunmen behind the attack as “infidels” and promised to launch a crackdown following the massacre that has strained Cairo’s ties with both Israelis and the Palestinians.

The old Egyptian Mubarak regime had cooperated closely with Israel on border security in the past and suppressed Islamist movements such as Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood leaders who often voiced hostility towards the Jewish state.

This is the first diplomatic situation that President Mohamed Mursi has had to face since he took over the presidency, other than struggling with the military council for lost powers of the office and attempting to reinstitute the Egyptian Islamic Parliament.

Mursi realizes the fact that Egyptian forces in Sinai are not a strong enough presence to protect their borders to the north.