By Xinhua
Jerusalem : Israeli Foreign Ministry is recommending that Israel allow Egypt to double the number of soldiers it has stationed along its borders with Israel and Gaza -something that Cairo has long wanted to do, but that Jerusalem has hitherto vetoed, local daily Ha’aretz reported Tuesday on its website.
Since the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty strictly limits the forces that Egypt can deploy along these borders, any increase would require Israel’s consent, said the report.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni plans to present her ministry’s recommendation Wednesday at a special meeting in the Prime Minister’s Office concerning the Gaza-Egypt border. It is not yet clear whether this will be a meeting of the full diplomatic-security cabinet or a smaller forum. Either way, however, the goal will be to formulate a new policy for the border in light of Hamas’s success in breaching it two weeks ago.
A special agreement signed by Jerusalem and Cairo following Israel’s disengagement from Gaza in August 2005 allowed the Egyptians to station 750 border policemen along the Gaza border, in addition to the regular policemen stationed there under the Israel-Egypt peace treaty. Since then, Egypt has repeatedly sought to double this number to 1,500, and the United States has backed its request, but Israel refused.
Now, however, Israeli Foreign Ministry recommends approving the request. It also recommends allowing these soldiers to be equipped with more sophisticated weaponry than is currently allowed under the peace treaty.
Israeli Defense Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces strongly oppose allowing Egypt to upgrade its forces along the border, arguing that the upgraded forces would constitute a security threat to Israel.
Until recently, Israeli Foreign Ministry shared the defense establishment’s opposition to a Egyptian force increase, arguing that an increase was unnecessary. According to a senior Israeli government official, it changed its mind mainly because “the situation on the border between Gaza and Egypt has changed, and therefore, elements of Israel’s position on this matter must change as well.”