Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will meet tomorrow with the head of Egyptian Intelligence, Omar Suleimon. The meeting follows Sharon's announcement last night that he is hoping for Egyptian - as well as European and Jordanian - cooperation as he "unilaterally" withdraws from Jewish Gaza.
Sharon gave more than a hint of this last week when he said in the Knesset that his new plan would require "certain changes" in the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement that forbids an Egyptian military presence near Israeli areas. In fact, Egyptian forces in Gaza would be only some 40 miles from Tel Aviv.
The idea has come up before. Maariv reported in February of this year that Sharon proposed the idea in meetings both with top Israeli military leaders and with Egyptian officials; neither were reportedly very enthusiastic about the idea.
Now, however, Egypt appears to be more forthcoming. Following a series of intensive Israeli-Egyptian meetings on the topic, Suleimon said yesterday that Egypt is "willing to grant significant security aid to the Palestinian Authority in order to guarantee security in the Gaza Strip after the disengagement. But Egypt wants an official Palestinian consent to the Egyptian function."
Former Techiya MK Elyakim HaEtzni, writing in Yediot Acharonot, opines, "The Egyptians are partners in the killing of our soldiers. Without their knowledge, approval and even their help, it would not have been possible to import tremendous amounts of weapons via the tunnels. And yet, Sharon... proposes to give them the Philadelphi Route, and even proposes to cede a major clause in the peace agreement in order to bring the Egyptian Army into the Gaza Strip! After 1,400 Oslo process victims, this will be yet another pathological attempt to make peace, reminiscent of the attempt to fight terrorism with the help of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Liberation Army."
Sharon gave more than a hint of this last week when he said in the Knesset that his new plan would require "certain changes" in the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement that forbids an Egyptian military presence near Israeli areas. In fact, Egyptian forces in Gaza would be only some 40 miles from Tel Aviv.
The idea has come up before. Maariv reported in February of this year that Sharon proposed the idea in meetings both with top Israeli military leaders and with Egyptian officials; neither were reportedly very enthusiastic about the idea.
Now, however, Egypt appears to be more forthcoming. Following a series of intensive Israeli-Egyptian meetings on the topic, Suleimon said yesterday that Egypt is "willing to grant significant security aid to the Palestinian Authority in order to guarantee security in the Gaza Strip after the disengagement. But Egypt wants an official Palestinian consent to the Egyptian function."
Former Techiya MK Elyakim HaEtzni, writing in Yediot Acharonot, opines, "The Egyptians are partners in the killing of our soldiers. Without their knowledge, approval and even their help, it would not have been possible to import tremendous amounts of weapons via the tunnels. And yet, Sharon... proposes to give them the Philadelphi Route, and even proposes to cede a major clause in the peace agreement in order to bring the Egyptian Army into the Gaza Strip! After 1,400 Oslo process victims, this will be yet another pathological attempt to make peace, reminiscent of the attempt to fight terrorism with the help of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Liberation Army."