By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
Aug 28, 2005
Israel's cabinet Sunday voted 18-2 in favor of allowing the deployment of 750 Egyptian troops along the Gaza-Sinai border as part of its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
The agreement will also permit the Egyptians to deploy eight military helicopters and an assortment of heavy arms along what is known as the ?Philadelphia Route.?
It is scheduled to go before the Knesset plenum Wednesday, where it will face stiff criticism led by Likud Mks Binyamin Netanyahu and Yuval Steinitz, but is expected to ultimately be approved.
Last week Steinitz, who chairs the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, warned the deal effectively annulled the achievements of Israel's peace treaty with Egypt by starting the re-militarization of the Sinai Peninsula.
?The fear is not from the 750 border policemen, but from the precedent its sets of allowing the rearmament of the border,? Steinitz told The Jerusalem Post. ?Look at how much the Egyptians wanted this. They see it as part of the beginning of the remilitarization process.?
?They are not stupid. In a few years we could have an Egyptian division sitting close to Eilat. Egypt is the only country which has for years planned a military option against Israel,? he said.
Most security officials, however, are more concerned about the immediate consequences of the move, which could allow for a huge influx of terrorist arms into Gaza.
Following Sunday's cabinet vote, Steinitz's committee colleague, MK Ehud Yatom said, ?The very fact that we have allowed the Egyptians to be present along the Philadelphia Route means that we have lost all control there. We have lost this battle.?
Netanyahu called the move ?another mistake of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, which will give a tailwind to terrorism and infuse terror bases in Gaza with weapons.?
Probed on the issue by media analyst Dr. Aaron Lerner, government spokesman Ra'anan Gissin admitted the deal did not prevent the Arabs from opening unsupervised border crossings where weapons could flow freely.
?Egypt has committed not to transfer weapons to Gaza, but there's nothing stopping them from allowing other Arab elements to do so,? cautioned Lerner.