War against Egypt in the winter

By Zvi Bar'el

The profound frustration because war did not break out with Syria during the summer - although there are some who argue that the summer has not yet ended - is being vented by channeling the anger against another neighbor: Egypt. October is an appropriate month to set upon a state that meticulously adheres to the peace accord it signed with Israel about 30 years ago.

In briefings with Israeli journalists, intelligence officials claim that Egypt wants to see "Israel bleeding." Perhaps it even aspires to revoke the peace accord or reach an agreement with Hamas to appease the Muslim Brotherhood, the experts suggest in an erudite explanation. In Israel, Egypt serves the role Syria fills in the United States. It is responsible for Hamas' increased military strength, for the smuggling of weapons via tunnels, for the continued firing of Qassams and for smuggling drugs and women across the border.

Israel is furious that Egypt allowed about 80 Hamas explosive experts - allegedly trained in Iran - to enter the Gaza Strip. As if the Qassams had been waiting for them to arrive. In fact, Egypt represents an excellent culprit because it can also be punished - by freezing U.S. economic assistance, for instance.

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The purveyors of these intelligence briefings would do well to calm down a bit. Israel itself did not succeed in preventing arms smuggling, even when it controlled every centimeter of Gaza. Tunnels were dug under Israel's nose and used for smuggling and perpetrating lethal attacks. Israel has yet to repair some sections of the fence along its border with Egypt because the money allocated for this, NIS 200 million, disappeared somewhere.

For its part, Egypt is asking for Israel's approval to significantly increase the number of policemen patrolling the border. Another few thousand, Egypt believes, will help it block the smuggling route. Israel refuses such a move because it fears a sweeping breach of the Camp David Accords. At most, Israel has agreed to allow the Egyptians to patrol with all-terrain vehicles and two helicopters. It is angry that Egypt deployed another 750 soldiers on the border before removing the 750 soldiers who arrived there in the first round. Israel considers this as a violation of trust, never mind the benefit.

Despite the Israeli claim, Egypt is conducting a vigorous struggle against terror. Its efforts are primarily directed against those suspected of smuggling weapons - the Bedouin along the El Arish-Rafah axis and extremist Islamic groups operating in the Sinai, whose ranks also include Bedouin. The problem is that Egypt sometimes operates like Israel. Lacking sound intelligence, it detains hundreds and even thousands of people in the area, demolishes homes and conducts interrogations using methods that are anything but gentle. This generates enormous anger among the Bedouin population and prompts a search for alternative sources of employment. Today, smuggling weapons, women and drugs has become a particularly profitable alternative.

Egypt has no interest in seeing Hamas or other organizations in Gaza obtain weapons and explosives. After all, these also serve those organizations in the Sinai that carried out the major attacks in Sharm el-Sheikh, Taba and Dahab, which did enormous damage to Egyptian tourism. In addition, Egypt has no interest in appeasing the Muslim Brotherhood. A regime that conducts wholesale arrests of Muslim Brotherhood activists, restricts their political activity and harasses their newspapers is not likely to want to placate Hamas in order to appease that very same Muslim Brotherhood.

Could Egypt do more to stop the smuggling? The answer is yes, apparently it could - that is, if it receives Israel's okay to deploy more forces. Egypt certainly could have handled matters differently, particularly in its approach to the Bedouin population. But to preach about this to Egypt is tantamount to telling Israel to behave nicely toward the Palestinians, its occupied population.

Egypt is Israel's ally - not only in matters involving oil, gas and trade, but also in the fight against terrorism. It is Israel's only ally that maintains a dialogue with both Hamas and Fatah - and this is good. There is no benefit or logic in the attack launched against Egypt by intelligence officials in Israel, to the point of comparing it to a state that supports terror. But someone is apparently itching to get to the Aswan Dam.

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IDF Complicit in Gaza Arms Smuggling

Israel's ruling Extremists, desperate to avoid Negotiations and Compromise for peace, are now claiming that negotiations are impossible, because of the crisis that they, themselves, are responsible for.

Egypt: IDF soldiers are aiding arms smuggling to Gaza Strip

By Shmuel Rosner, Haaretz Correspondent

Egyptian document distributed in U.S. Congress asserts Israeli soldiers cooperate with smugglers.

An Egyptian document distributed in Congress asserts that Israeli soldiers cooperate with smugglers in allowing arms and military equipment into the Gaza Strip. The document was relayed to senior Israeli officials where it has served to intensify concerns in Jerusalem about Egypt's willingness to stem the flow of weapons from its territory into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Srip.

The Egyptian document was circulated among congressmen by a group of Egyptian generals visiting Washington for meetings. The document was also given to legislators serving in the House Appropriations Committee. Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY), who chairs the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee was the driving force behind a freezing of $200 million worth of American aid to Egypt for reasons that included Cairo's refusal to act more forcefully to prevent smuggling. The official reason given for freezing the funds is Egypt's human rights record.

During briefings made to congressmen by the Egyptian delegation, it was argued that most of the smugglings into the Gaza Strip are carried out from the sea, not through Egyptian territory. They also maintained that Israeli soldiers collaborate with smugglers and allow them to cross into the strip. The Egyptians are also charging that Israel is exaggerating in its assessment of the amount of smuggling activity.

News of the content of the document has stirred considerable ire in Jerusalem, where the issue of smuggling and the impression that Cairo is not doing enough to stop it has raised significant concerns in recent weeks. The issue is of central importance to Israel and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee visiting Washington this week, discussed the matter with their American hosts.

In the draft of foreign aid appropriations, approved by the House Appropriations Committee chaired by David Obey (D-Wisconsin), and by Congress, $200 million out of a total aid package of $1.7 billion to Egypt are frozen. The draft proposal brought before the Senate does not note the frozen sum. The final version of the appropriations bill on foreign aid will be decided during a conference of both houses. In an effort to affect the result in its favor, Egypt is lobbying hard to convince legislators to adopt the Senate version of the bill.

Officially, Israel has not adopted a position regarding the frozen funds, and has not asked U.S. legislators to carry out any cuts in the aid provided to Egypt. However, Israel continues to argue before Congress that Egypt is not doing enough to block smuggling into the Gaza Strip.

Two weeks ago, several dozen Hamas activists and militants were allowed to cross into the Gaza Strip from Sinai, and senior Israeli officials stressed in talks with their counterparts in the U.S. government that the smuggling is not "a technical problem but a strategic threat."

Israel maintains that the Hamas militants who crossed into the strip received advanced training in sabotage and terrorist activities in other countries, and are now poised to create in Gaza an armed "terrorist state." Israeli intelligence assessments say that each month, several tons of explosives are smuggled into the Gaza Strip for the production of rockets and explosive devices.

A source in Congress told Haaretz yesterday that "Israel's message will carry significant weight in the final decision."

Barak, who met with Lowey this week and the members of her subcommittee, raised this issue during their talk.

The Americans heard a uniform complaint from the Israeli MKs visiting Washington this week, but opinions varied on the kind of pressure needed to convince Egypt to do more. MK Yuval Steinitz took a severe stand on the issue, while Meretz chairman, Yossi Beilin, asked that any pressure on Egypt should not result in a derailment of cooperation.

"Egypt is not Israel's enemy," Beilin said.

The issue of smuggling was also on the agenda of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her meeting yesterday with her Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Aboul Gheit. Following the meeting Rice said that "we do need to do more."

However, the Egyptian foreign minister said that "the Egyptian government is doing its utmost to control that territory."

Egypt has told Rice and Vice President Dick Cheney in the past that it will not accept any attempt to place conditions on U.S. aid.

www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=914200&contrassID=1&subCo