Government representatives have reached a preliminary agreement with Egypt stipulating that 750 Egyptian soldiers will guard the Philadelphi Route. Their job will be mainly to ensure that no weapons are smuggled from Egypt into Gaza. Over the past months, thousands of rifles and even some rocket launchers have been smuggled into Judea and Samaria via that route - leading many IDF sources to believe that the terrorists are preparing a post-disengagement war.
However, the deployment of Egyptian forces in the Sinai is a violation of the peace treaty signed between Israel and Egypt in 1979. The legal counsel of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Miri Frankel-Shorr, has prepared a legal opinion stating that because the treaty was ratified by the Knesset in 1979, any violation of it must similarly receive Knesset approval.
Prime Minister Sharon has said that no Knesset approval is necessary, and that an exchange of letters between him and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is sufficient.
Committee Chairman MK Yuval Shteinitz (pictured above), a supporter of the disengagement but an opponent of allowing Egyptian forces into Sinai, told Yediot Acharonot, "Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin understood the importance of a buffer zone in the Sinai. Egypt is the strongest Arab country, and represents a threat to Israel. Allowing Egyptian soldiers into the Sinai would be a 'weeping for generations.'"
Visiting in Gan Yavneh today, Likud MK Shteinitz - a philosophy lecturer who once belonged to a left-wing movement - said that Egypt and Iran are becoming Israel's two biggest threats. He said that Israel tends to concentrate only on the terrorist threat, and not enough on the global security threats.
Egypt is arming at a furious pace, according to Shteinitz, and is preparing for war with Israel. "The main military exercises that the Egyptian Army carries out are simulations of war with Israel," Shteinitz said. "The gravest anti-Israel incitement, as well, is found in Egypt."
It is doubtful whether the Knesset would approve the deployment of Egyptian soldiers along the Philadelphi Route. Shas (11 MKs), the right-wing parties (12), and large parts of both the Likud and Shinui object to such a move.
Both Sharon and Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz have told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the 750 soldiers would not be the end of the story. They envision the deployment of 4,000 Egyptian soldiers all along the Israel-Egypt border, from Gaza to Eilat, between the Sinai and the Negev.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo today, presenting the Arab leader with what Foreign Ministry sources term a "new road map" to promote relations between Israel and the Arab nations.
However, the deployment of Egyptian forces in the Sinai is a violation of the peace treaty signed between Israel and Egypt in 1979. The legal counsel of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Miri Frankel-Shorr, has prepared a legal opinion stating that because the treaty was ratified by the Knesset in 1979, any violation of it must similarly receive Knesset approval.
Prime Minister Sharon has said that no Knesset approval is necessary, and that an exchange of letters between him and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is sufficient.
Committee Chairman MK Yuval Shteinitz (pictured above), a supporter of the disengagement but an opponent of allowing Egyptian forces into Sinai, told Yediot Acharonot, "Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin understood the importance of a buffer zone in the Sinai. Egypt is the strongest Arab country, and represents a threat to Israel. Allowing Egyptian soldiers into the Sinai would be a 'weeping for generations.'"
Visiting in Gan Yavneh today, Likud MK Shteinitz - a philosophy lecturer who once belonged to a left-wing movement - said that Egypt and Iran are becoming Israel's two biggest threats. He said that Israel tends to concentrate only on the terrorist threat, and not enough on the global security threats.
Egypt is arming at a furious pace, according to Shteinitz, and is preparing for war with Israel. "The main military exercises that the Egyptian Army carries out are simulations of war with Israel," Shteinitz said. "The gravest anti-Israel incitement, as well, is found in Egypt."
It is doubtful whether the Knesset would approve the deployment of Egyptian soldiers along the Philadelphi Route. Shas (11 MKs), the right-wing parties (12), and large parts of both the Likud and Shinui object to such a move.
Both Sharon and Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz have told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the 750 soldiers would not be the end of the story. They envision the deployment of 4,000 Egyptian soldiers all along the Israel-Egypt border, from Gaza to Eilat, between the Sinai and the Negev.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo today, presenting the Arab leader with what Foreign Ministry sources term a "new road map" to promote relations between Israel and the Arab nations.