Jihad creeps ever closer to Israel thanks to the Arab Spring.

Via JPost:

Salafist-Jihadist groups in Sinai claim ideological affinity with al-Qaida, a reformed Egyptian jihadist appointed as an official mediator between the authorities and extremist groups in the troubled peninsula said Thursday.

Dr. Mohammed Ghazlani told Egypt’s el-Watan newspaper that a number of Sinai’s Salafist Jihadi groups, among them Tawhid wal-Jihad (‘One God and Holy War’) have embraced al-Qaida’s extremist Islamist ideologies. Tawhid wal-Jihad’s terror operations have included bomb attacks in Sinai tourist resorts in Sinai in 2004 and 2005 which left 34 people dead.

Ghazlani is one of a delegation of reformed jihadists appointed by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi in August to mediate with radical Jihadi Salafist leaders in Sinai. Morsi launched the initiative in the wake of Egypt’s Operation Eagle, a military campaign launched to restore security.

In his interview with el-Watan, Ghazlani claimed that although al-Qaida’s ideology is prevalent in Sinai, there is no communication or coordination between jihadists in Egypt and in other parts of the world.

The reformed jihadist mediator also claimed that al-Qaida would not mount attacks on Egyptian targets or attack foreign interests in that country.