Some Israeli officials have long warned against Israeli indifference to Egypt's security activities in Sinai. MK Yuval Shteinitz, for instance, who is Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said recently that the Egyptians continue to allow arms-smuggling to Gaza because they are interested in the continuation of the Israeli -Palestinian conflict. Egypt's policy is just like Syria's arming of Hizbullah, Shteinitz said, except that the Egyptians do it more quietly.



The estimated amounts of arms and explosives smuggled in to Gaza in the past four years are: 2,000 kilograms of explosives, 6,700 Kalachnikov rifles (including 5,000 since 2003), 750 anti-tank shell launchers, 33 mortars, 18 submachine guns, 5 anti-aircraft missiles, 580,000 bullets, and dozens of RPG bombs.



Just this past Wednesday, IDF and Border Patrol forces operating in southern Gaza uncovered a tunnel dug in the courtyard of an abandoned building - the third such tunnel uncovered in the vicinity. The tunnel was over 70 meters long, and the army reported that it was apparently used to facilitate terrorist attacks against the Gush Katif communities.



Arab affairs expert Dr. Guy Bechor said that the terrorist massacre in Taba could be a good occasion for Egypt, Israel and the U.S. to "work out principles of operation for this region," in light of the continuing arms-smuggling going on under Egypt's nose from Egypt into Gaza. "I would say that this could be a wake-up call to Egypt to stop the tunnels and the smuggling. It could be that the tunnels and the Bedouin aiding the smugglers are a two-way affair, and Egypt might now wake up to this."



There have been almost contradictory reports of Egyptians and Israelis working side-by-side in the rescue efforts in Taba, while at the same time some Egyptian workers have said that they would love nothing more than to strangle their Israeli counterparts. Dr. Bechor, who has visited Egypt over 100 times, has met with President Mubarak, and has written his doctorate on Egypt, said, "Anti-Semitism in Egypt is very entrenched, and comes in all forms. There are places in Cairo where I think that Israelis simply may not allow themselves to go. I have said many times that it's time that the Americans, who provide them with $2.1 billion a year, make it clear to the Egyptians that they have to take care of this problem."