CONFRONTING EGYPT OVER LAX BORDER SECURITY

Israeli Defense Minister Meets Egyptian President in Egypt - Amos Harel and Barak Ravid
Defense Minister Ehud Barak traveled to Egypt on Wednesday for meetings with the Egyptian leadership on the continued arms smuggling from Sinai into Gaza, and efforts to achieve a tahadiyeh, (calm) between the Palestinian militant groups and Israel. The increasingly dominant assessment in the Israeli defense establishment is that the Hamas leadership is inclined to support a tahadiyeh even though it is not unified on this matter. (Ha'aretz)

See also More Tapes Showing Egyptian Complicity in Gaza Smuggling - Roni Sofer
Government officials told Ynet on Tuesday that the IDF has in its possession additional videotapes which prove Egypt's complicity in the ongoing smuggling of weapons and terrorists into Gaza. "The Egyptian unease is trivial in comparison to the lack of security for citizens of the State of Israel - to whom the rocket attacks, explosive devices, and mortars smuggled into Israel from the Philadelphi corridor are addressed," a government official said. Israel has said that given the tons of explosives that have been smuggled into Gaza in recent months, it was left with no choice but to confront the Egyptians on the matter. The Intelligence Branch of the IDF's Southern Command claims that weapons and explosive materiel pass through Egypt's Sinai desert unhindered and there has been a steep increase in the extent of smuggling in the last year. (Ynet News)

Barak to Confront Mubarak with Gaza Smuggling Evidence - Yaakov Katz and Herb Keinon
One senior defense official said that Egypt's decision to unilaterally open the Rafah crossing earlier this month and allow 2,000 Palestinians, including a number of terrorists en-route to Iran, to leave Gaza was "grounds for a diplomatic crisis." A government source said that Israel wants good relations with Egypt and sees its relationship with Cairo as a key strategic interest. But, the source said, "there is frustration on the Israeli side about what goes on at the border. We understand that the Egyptians can't do everything, but they must do more. The strengthening of Hamas is not just a threat to Israel, but a threat to the Palestinian Authority and to regional stability."

Diplomatic officials said that Egyptian inaction stems from a number of different reasons, including: An economic interest, since the arms smuggling is a multi-million dollar "industry" for those involved on the Egyptian side. An interest in not exacerbating ties with Sinai Bedouin, who are believed to be involved in the smuggling and who have a tense relationship with the central government in Cairo. An interest in letting the arms smuggling continue in order to place pressure on Israel to open up the Camp David Accords and let the Egyptians increase the number of soldiers on the border. General ineffectiveness of the Egyptian security forces. A belief that Hamas is now well ensconced in Gaza, and that it is not in Egypt's interest to push Hamas too hard, lest they push back and cause domestic problems in Egypt via the Muslim Brotherhood. (Jerusalem Post)
U.S. Lawmakers: Egypt Aid May Hinge on Gaza Border
Two U.S. lawmakers said on Wednesday that the U.S. could make financial aid to Egypt conditional on Cairo doing more to prevent smuggling of arms into Hamas-controlled Gaza. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) both sit on the powerful appropriations committees that control U.S. foreign aid spending. "It's an intolerable situation for Egypt to be complicitous in letting arms be smuggled to Hamas. They (Egypt) get a lot of U.S. largesse, a lot of U.S. money, $2 billion a year," Specter said. (Reuters)
Barak Meets Mubarak in Egypt - Yaakov Katz
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday in Sharm e-Sheikh. Barak discussed weapons smuggling as well as other regional issues such as the Iranian threat. Israeli defense officials said Egypt is just as concerned about Iran as Israel is.

Despite tension over smuggling across the Egypt-Gaza border, Israel and Egypt are not ready to give up the strategic alliance they have managed to forge since they signed a peace agreement almost 30 years ago. Both countries are aware that they need one another. Israel sees peace with Egypt as a model for other Arab and Muslim countries. On the other side, Egypt views its relations with Israel as a strategic asset. Cairo recognizes the fact that Israel and the Jewish lobby have a great deal of influence in Washington. (Jerusalem Post)

See also Egypt Vows to End Weapons Smuggling - Yaakov Katz
Egypt will begin to crack down on weapons smugglers along the Philadelphi corridor into Gaza until Israel no longer has anything to complain about, Egyptian Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman said Wednesday. (Jerusalem Post)

Egypt's Mubarak Says Israel Faked Smuggling Evidence (Reuters)
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has accused Israel of fabricating evidence it says implicates Egyptian security forces in helping Hamas militants smuggle arms into Gaza, Egypt's state news agency MENA reported on Thursday. Israel had sent a videotape to Washington showing this.

"Our officials (saw the pictures)...and I'm informing you that they're fabricated pictures and computer work.... Anybody can make pictures of arms smugglers....I can organize pictures of an Israeli man and an Israeli woman smuggling arms and plotting a terrorist operation," Mubarak said.

"Anyone who tries to accuse Egypt of cooperating with arms smugglers, I tell him he's a big liar....If the way we deal with the arms smuggling is not good enough for you, please, do the work yourselves."