While efforts continue in the search for a compromise that will enable Finance Minister Netanyahu to back Prime Minister Sharon's disengagement/withdrawal plan, support for the plan is coming from other quarters: Egypt - and possibly Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom.
Sharon talked last night with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who offered his continuing aid in promoting the plan. It is no secret that Egypt stands to gain from the withdrawal, as its forces will be invited to Gaza to help train PA protective forces - contrary to the situation today in which Egyptian forces are restricted, under the terms of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, from nearing Gaza.
Sharon and Mubarak agreed on the establishment of a joint committee to deal with the Israeli-Egyptian aspects of an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Sharon has tapped Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom to travel to Egypt later this week to meet with Mubarak. The choice of Shalom raised some eyebrows, as Shalom was one of the 12 ministers comprising the majority against the plan last week.
Further evidence that Shalom may have changed his mind can be found in the fact that Prime Minister Sharon refuses to hear compromise suggestions to tone down his withdrawal plan - leading observers to surmise that he knows he already has a majority for his plan as it currently stands. Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, chief among the withdrawal's proponents, is among those hinting that Shalom has been brought on board the disengagement boat.
Aides to Minister Shalom, asked why Shalom was going to Egypt, said that his purpose will be to facilitate the "warming up" of relations between the two countries, with no connection to the disengagement plan.
In the meantime, a senior intelligence officer told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday that Egyptian-made RPG rockets had been found in the possession of Palestinian terrorists in Gaza. "I fear that Egypt is interested, as a matter of policy, that Israel and the Palestinians continue to bleed," said Committee Chairman MK Yuval Shteinitz (Likud) - who is known to favor Sharon's plan.
Opposition leader Shimon Peres believes that Sharon and Netanyahu will reach a compromise agreement to prevent the collapse of the current government - but says that the disengagement plan the two are likely to agree on will be of "little importance." Peres explained this morning that the agreement would cover the removal of "only" three communities over a period of 18-24 months. Sharon has been eyeing Labor as a coalition replacement for the National Union and NRP, which are likely to quit the government if even one community is slated for destruction; many Labor officials have said, however, that only a large-scale withdrawal plan will draw them into the government.
Sharon talked last night with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who offered his continuing aid in promoting the plan. It is no secret that Egypt stands to gain from the withdrawal, as its forces will be invited to Gaza to help train PA protective forces - contrary to the situation today in which Egyptian forces are restricted, under the terms of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, from nearing Gaza.
Sharon and Mubarak agreed on the establishment of a joint committee to deal with the Israeli-Egyptian aspects of an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Sharon has tapped Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom to travel to Egypt later this week to meet with Mubarak. The choice of Shalom raised some eyebrows, as Shalom was one of the 12 ministers comprising the majority against the plan last week.
Further evidence that Shalom may have changed his mind can be found in the fact that Prime Minister Sharon refuses to hear compromise suggestions to tone down his withdrawal plan - leading observers to surmise that he knows he already has a majority for his plan as it currently stands. Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, chief among the withdrawal's proponents, is among those hinting that Shalom has been brought on board the disengagement boat.
Aides to Minister Shalom, asked why Shalom was going to Egypt, said that his purpose will be to facilitate the "warming up" of relations between the two countries, with no connection to the disengagement plan.
In the meantime, a senior intelligence officer told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday that Egyptian-made RPG rockets had been found in the possession of Palestinian terrorists in Gaza. "I fear that Egypt is interested, as a matter of policy, that Israel and the Palestinians continue to bleed," said Committee Chairman MK Yuval Shteinitz (Likud) - who is known to favor Sharon's plan.
Opposition leader Shimon Peres believes that Sharon and Netanyahu will reach a compromise agreement to prevent the collapse of the current government - but says that the disengagement plan the two are likely to agree on will be of "little importance." Peres explained this morning that the agreement would cover the removal of "only" three communities over a period of 18-24 months. Sharon has been eyeing Labor as a coalition replacement for the National Union and NRP, which are likely to quit the government if even one community is slated for destruction; many Labor officials have said, however, that only a large-scale withdrawal plan will draw them into the government.