Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned against counting on Egypt to secure the borders between Gaza Strip and Egypt.
Netanyahu’s comments correspond to the Israeli Knesset panel’s warnings against deploying Egyptian troops on the Philadelphi route in the southern Gaza Strip.
A Knesset subcommittee decided to warn ministers in the political-security cabinet against approving the plan which will allow Egypt to deploy 750 soldiers to be stationed on the Philadelphi route.
The subcommittee stated in its warning memo, ‘Based on the material before us, it is clear the Egyptians see the stationing of 750 soldiers with armored vehicles in the Philadelphi region as an opportunity for the beginning of a return of military sovereignty in the eastern Sinai.’
Netanyahu told Army Radio Wednesday that ‘I wouldn’t depend on Egypt, no matter how much our relations warm up.’
A special debate will be held in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security committee on Wednesday on this deployment.
Committee chairman Yuval Steints one of the strong opponents of the deployment said, ‘I very much hope I will be able to get a majority of the Knesset to thwart [this proposal],’
‘If this plan is implemented, it will be a disaster,’ Steinitz added, comparing the Egyptian deployment to ‘bringing the Iranian Revolutionary Guards into Jenin.’
Egypt has requested additional deployments of thousands of soldiers and armored vehicles following the bombing attacks against two hotels in the Sinai area in October 2004.
Egypt is bound by the Camp David treaty singed in 1979 to limit its military presence on the borders with Israel.
