The fallout from the Gaza flotilla and the emergence of Turkey as a clear ally of Iran and Syria and all but an official enemy of Israel, is part of a radically changing balance of power in the region, one that is seeing unprecedented levels of cooperation between Israel and Egypt.

Senior Israeli officials have been saying in recent months that Egypt has been pursuing two seemingly opposite courses in its relationship with Israel.

Israeli officials have played down reports that the Obama administration will support an Egyptian plan to force Israel to disclose details of its nuclear arsenal and commit to disarmament, as part of its global strategy to reduce nuclear stockpiles.

There has been no confirmation of this from official administration sources and a very senior Israeli official said that "we have received no signal at all from the Americans on this".

In an unprecedented move, Israel has urged its citizens to leave Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula immediately, warning of an imminent terrorist attack.

The Prime Minister’s Office issued the urgent warning, claiming that there is “concrete evidence of an expected terrorist attempt to kidnap Israelis in Sinai".

Israeli civilians currently in Sinai may be at high risk of kidnap, although the kidnappers’ target is likely to be an Israeli soldier.

Palestinian militants have kidnapped three soldiers from Israel. One of them, Gilad Shalit, has been held hostage since 2006.

A fortnight before Pesach, Egypt has cancelled the official reopening of a restored synagogue, allegedly because of the celebrations and drinking during the synagogue’s reopening ceremony.

In Cairo’s ancient Jewish quarter, the ruined Ben Maimon synagogue has undergone a seven month restoration.

The synagogue held a dedication ceremony last week, amid a heavy security presence which cleared a 500 metre area around the shul.

After years of deliberations, the Israeli government has decided to build a border fence along its border with Egypt. The fence is meant to keep out terrorists, but the more immediate reason is to stem the flood of African refugees into Israel.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu authorised a plan presented to him by the Defence Ministry to spend NIS 1.5 billion on a fence between Israel and Egypt.

Besides a few short fences near the Gaza Strip to the north and Eilat in the south, most of the border, over 300km, is not fenced.

Egypt has announced it is to ban all foreign aid convoys to Gaza after activists from the Viva Palestina convoy led by MP George Galloway clashed with police on the Rafah border.

Mr Galloway was deported from Gaza after attempting to re-enter the territory after part of the convoy was allowed a limited amount of time to distribute aid in Gaza.

A statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said: "The deportation was to protect him from the Egyptian people's anger. George Galloway is considered persona non grata and will not be allowed to enter into Egypt again."

Israel is to start construction of a security barrier along the 266km border with Egypt to stop the flow of illegal migrants.

The $270m barrier will run along two parts of the border, one close to the beach resort of Eilat and one by the Gaza Strip. It will take several years to construct.

The Egyptian security service said they had not been informed of the plan but said they would not oppose it if it was built entirely on Israeli soil.