Netanyahu, in a meeting with journalists in his office yesterday, said that allowing Egyptian forces to guard the Sinai-Gaza border is a very bad idea.
Government representatives have reached a preliminary agreement with Egypt, under which 750 Egyptian soldiers will guard the Philadelphi Route following an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Their job will be to ensure that weapons are not smuggled from Egypt into Gaza and the Negev. 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.
The Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement of 1979 forbids Egyptian troops from the Sinai, thus that Knesset approval is required to allow Egyptian forces to patrol the Gaza border. So says Miri Frankel-Shorr, the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee's legal counsel.
Netanyahu feels that the agreement with Egypt must be "preserved as is, without being changed. Allowing the deployment of an Egyptian force means that it will have to kill and be killed for us."
Netanyahu also related to recent reports that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is planning further unilateral withdrawals in Judea and Samaria. (Sharon has denied the reports.) Netanyahu said, "First we retreat from Lebanon because of terrorism there, then from Gaza and northern Shomron, and then there should be another one?! What can we expect the other side to understand from this?"
Meanwhile, another possible contender for the position of Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, also has some thoughts on the topic. Speaking with Likud activists yesterday, Shalom said that Israel should prepare a post-disengagement plan that will leave us with the large Yesha settlement blocs, strategic security zones, and a united Jerusalem. Shalom's plan is considered a setback by many in the nationalist camp, who until now have considered Shalom a strong Land of Israel supporter.
Minister Shalom explained that he now agrees with Prime Minister Sharon that Israel will not be able to retain "isolated" Yesha communities in the future.
However, Shalom said, "The Likud will not cooperate in any manner whatsoever with an additional disengagement from parts of our homeland." He said he talked with Sharon on this issue, "and he asked me to tell you tonight that he has not had, and will not have, any intention of carrying out a further disengagement." The audience responded by booing the Prime Minister and crying out, "We don't believe him."
It was reported today that Sharon might consider postponing the retreat from Gaza and northern Shomron by close to a month. This, in order to avoid it happening during the three-week traditional mourning period in memory of the destruction of the Holy Temples. The expulsion is currently scheduled to begin July 20, four days before the onset of the Three Weeks, and is expected to last several weeks, until after Tisha B'Av. Shimon Peres suggested that the date be moved up, but this would violate the law that states that it may not occur until five months have passed from the date the Disengagement Law was passed by the Cabinet.
Government representatives have reached a preliminary agreement with Egypt, under which 750 Egyptian soldiers will guard the Philadelphi Route following an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Their job will be to ensure that weapons are not smuggled from Egypt into Gaza and the Negev. 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.
The Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement of 1979 forbids Egyptian troops from the Sinai, thus that Knesset approval is required to allow Egyptian forces to patrol the Gaza border. So says Miri Frankel-Shorr, the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee's legal counsel.
Netanyahu feels that the agreement with Egypt must be "preserved as is, without being changed. Allowing the deployment of an Egyptian force means that it will have to kill and be killed for us."
Netanyahu also related to recent reports that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is planning further unilateral withdrawals in Judea and Samaria. (Sharon has denied the reports.) Netanyahu said, "First we retreat from Lebanon because of terrorism there, then from Gaza and northern Shomron, and then there should be another one?! What can we expect the other side to understand from this?"
Meanwhile, another possible contender for the position of Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, also has some thoughts on the topic. Speaking with Likud activists yesterday, Shalom said that Israel should prepare a post-disengagement plan that will leave us with the large Yesha settlement blocs, strategic security zones, and a united Jerusalem. Shalom's plan is considered a setback by many in the nationalist camp, who until now have considered Shalom a strong Land of Israel supporter.
Minister Shalom explained that he now agrees with Prime Minister Sharon that Israel will not be able to retain "isolated" Yesha communities in the future.
However, Shalom said, "The Likud will not cooperate in any manner whatsoever with an additional disengagement from parts of our homeland." He said he talked with Sharon on this issue, "and he asked me to tell you tonight that he has not had, and will not have, any intention of carrying out a further disengagement." The audience responded by booing the Prime Minister and crying out, "We don't believe him."
It was reported today that Sharon might consider postponing the retreat from Gaza and northern Shomron by close to a month. This, in order to avoid it happening during the three-week traditional mourning period in memory of the destruction of the Holy Temples. The expulsion is currently scheduled to begin July 20, four days before the onset of the Three Weeks, and is expected to last several weeks, until after Tisha B'Av. Shimon Peres suggested that the date be moved up, but this would violate the law that states that it may not occur until five months have passed from the date the Disengagement Law was passed by the Cabinet.