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Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) (Tess Scheflan / Jini)
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Last update - 15:44 06/11/2007
Livni to Egyptian FM: Put a stop to weapons smuggling into Gaza
By Barak Ravid ,Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, Egypt 

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told her Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Tuesday that Cairo must put a stop to weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip.

At a summit of Middle East and European foreign ministers in Lisbon, Livni told Aboul Gheit that Gaza was turning into a dire regional problem and that Egypt must act decisively along the its border with the Strip to halt the weapons smuggling.

An estimated $20 million is smuggled into the Gaza Strip each month through the Philadelphi Route, according to Democratic Representative Gary Ackerman, chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.
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In an interview with Haaretz on Monday, Ackerman pointed an accusing finger at Egypt, arguing that Cairo's failure to control the Sinai border with the Gaza Strip helps to empower Hamas.

"Any way that you help the government in Gaza, the illegal government in Gaza, you further hurt Abu Mazen [Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas]," the congressman added.

Ackerman expressed hope that the Egyptians "are not intentionally" trying to strengthen Hamas, but said that "that is the effect."

Ackerman was visiting Israel to take part in the Saban Forum, an annual meeting for U.S.-Israel dialogue organized by the Saban Center for Middle East Studies at the Brookings Institute.

Ackerman said that the security situation along the Philadelphi Route has been increasingly deteriorating.

"The smuggling provides somewhere between 12 million and 20 million dollars to the economy of a rogue government that staged a coup against the wishes of the Palestinian people," said Ackerman.

The congressman also raised the possibility that "there may be more of a financial incentive for some people to be acting in a more corrupt way on the Egyptian side, to allow this [smuggling] to happen."

Ackerman stressed that "Egypt is not helping as much as it can. It can certainly do a better job on that border."

Ackerman said that intelligence information has revealed the smuggling of more people, materials and arms than ever, and that the type of weaponry being brought into the Strip was more sophisticated and with higher destructive capacity.

The Jewish congressman from New York is leading a hardline stance against Egypt on the issue of arms smuggling into the Strip from Sinai. Several months ago, Ackerman initiated a move with the support of another New York legislator, Nita Lowey, which froze $200 million of the total of $1.3 billion Egypt receives in military aid every year from the United States.

Ackerman says that freezing $200 million "is not going to do major damage to the Egyptian army's budget, but it is certainly a signal that if they are going backward, we are going backward. There is a great deal of money that we are giving them, and it is important to the Egyptian army. I hope that this expression of no-confidence from the Congress and the United States will result in greater attention to solving this issue."

Ackerman said that the Egyptians have never done a sufficiently good job on this issue, but noted that the situation was better in the past.

"We have a very serious problem understanding why this is going on, and have made it very clear [to the Egyptians] in a financial way."

Ackerman said he met with a group of senior Egyptian officers several weeks ago in Washington, and that they had briefed him and other legislators on the activity on the Sinai side of the border.

In a document provided to the legislators, the Egyptians maintained that Israeli soldiers were involved in assisting the smugglers. Ackerman rejects such possibility.

"Every organization has corrupt people, but that is not the point," he said. For the Egyptians, "these are not random cases, but it appears to be systematic. It seems that decision-makers in Egypt have decided to ignore the situation and look the other way, and this is unacceptable for the U.S."

Related articles:
  • IDF finds seven tunnels, explosives between Egypt, Gaza Strip
  • Egypt police: Gazans caught in tunnel members of Army of Islam
  • Rice: U.S. to check Israeli claims Egypt-Gaza smuggling persists
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      1.   Ackerman is a Jew that puts israeli intersts above American inter 04:07  |  American in NY 06/11/07
      2.   Nita Lowey also Jewish more loyal to Israel than America 04:09  |  American in NY 06/11/07
      3.   Ackerman is no expert on anything 05:33  |  Tosefta 06/11/07
      4.   Egypt suffers for US/Israel failed policy 05:36  |  Tosefta 06/11/07
      5.   To American: Do All Americans in NY have so wrong English? 05:41  |  Unbelievable! 06/11/07
      6.   Man, now that`s a quote to remember! 05:49  |  Johnboy 06/11/07
      7.   Mr Ackerman and Intelligence. 05:54  |  Maureen Ann 06/11/07
      8.   Tosefta 06:17  |  JES 06/11/07
      9.   U.S. Expert 06:50  |  Victor 06/11/07
      10.   Ackerman is a Fifth Column Jewish Traitor 07:15  |  No Israel 06/11/07
      11.   As usual Johnboy, not quite right 07:26  |  JES 06/11/07
      12.   Coincidence 07:40  |  Natallie Durson 06/11/07
      13.   This man would want to spill American blood 07:59  |  American 06/11/07
      14.   Desperate Name-calling by Tosefta 08:15  |  Schoolteacher 06/11/07
      15.   #7, Maureen Ann 08:16  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 06/11/07
      16.   #12, Durson 08:22  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 06/11/07
      17.   #4, Tosefta 08:26  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 06/11/07
      18.   But nobody has discussed the core subject here 08:50  |  Hastaroth 06/11/07
      19.   Good Reason WHY there are no Hungry Arabs 08:51  |  Dolly 06/11/07
      20.   # 16 Kohn: You have missed the point entirely 09:04  |  Natallie Durson 06/11/07
      21.   $$ and weapons 09:16  |  Uzi 06/11/07
      22.   here is what will happen haaretz ! 09:41  |  .... 06/11/07
      23.   Abu Peres , Abu Beilin surely will BS you to think that 09:51  |  Joseph E . 06/11/07
      24.   TRYING TO BE POLITE, BUT HE IS BULLYING EGYPT 10:02  |  indrajaya 06/11/07
      25.   #20, Durson 10:03  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 06/11/07
      26.   american in ny 10:04  |  elazar 06/11/07
      27.   natallie durson "you have missed the point entirely" 10:07  |  elazar 06/11/07
      28.   natallie durson we are well aware of arab limitations 10:12  |  elazar 06/11/07
      29.   Natallie Durson # 20 - No-one has missed any points. 10:14  |  Dolly 06/11/07
      30.   On "legality" 10:17  |  Clickfool 06/11/07
      31.   natallie durson "israel has killed more civilians 10:19  |  elazar 06/11/07
      32.   durson the lebanese military in nahr al bared 10:21  |  elazar 06/11/07
      33.   and natallie durson the jordanian authorities 10:23  |  elazar 06/11/07
      34.   tosefta and egypt 10:30  |  yirmiyahu 06/11/07
      35.   tosefta "ackerman is an aipac man" 10:31  |  yirmiyahu 06/11/07
      36.   ackerman is an interesting name. 10:34  |  yirmiyahu 06/11/07
      37.   Natallie Durson # 20 - Smuggling of B illions 10:35  |  Dagma 06/11/07
      38.   American in New York 10:35  |  Daybreak 06/11/07
      39.   tosefta is a eunuch 10:36  |  yirmiyahu 06/11/07
      40.   tosefta on egypt"its an unfair situation" 10:38  |  yirmiyahu 06/11/07
      41.   NATALLIE DURSON = # 29 10:38  |  Natasha 06/11/07
      42.   The Jewish chairman of the House Sub-Committee on the Middle East 10:45  |  Clickfool 06/11/07
      43.   CFOOL You Have MP Khakidi Mohammed minister for brownnosing Arabs 11:04  |  PETER S.M. 06/11/07
      44.   JIOHNBOY the Pals elected Hamas platform and all. 11:11  |  PETER S .M. 06/11/07
      45.   AMERICAN In NY SHOUTS headlines. 11:14  |  PETER S.M. 06/11/07
      46.   #11 JES and the truth seen to pass in the night 11:15  |  Johnboy 06/11/07
      47.   tosefta every death and injury israel suffers in gaza 11:19  |  yirmiyahu 06/11/07
      48.   $42 The Clicprick`s cliches 11:20  |  Hastaroth 06/11/07
      49.   tosefta the late zeev schiff made it clear that 11:21  |  yirmiyahu 06/11/07
      50.   MAURENN As soon as Israeli troops went to Gaza/Egypt Crossing 11:27  |  PETER S.M. 06/11/07
      51.   #45, Clickfool 11:36  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 06/11/07
      52.   johnboy the abject apologist for hamas 11:36  |  zebulun 06/11/07
      53.   20 million per month for 1 million hungry mouths = $20 per person 11:38  |  Genuine Tosefta 06/11/07
      54.   johnboy "the appointment of the hamas government is legal" 11:41  |  zebulun 06/11/07
      55.   Tossi Fetta 11:43  |  GABE1 06/11/07
      56.   MAUREN AN, MAUREN AN, MAUREN AN, Where are you my dear? 11:45  |  Jalal Shahid 06/11/07
      57.   JOHNBOY kidnapping Shalit created problems. 11:58  |  PETER S.M. 06/11/07
      58.   Tosefta was Ben Gurion before this 12:08  |  Schoolteacher 06/11/07
      59.   rogue governments are Israel and the US 12:37  |  Sam (UK) 06/11/07
      60.   ClickFOOL and the Hamas terrorists 12:39  |  Jonathan S 06/11/07
      61.   pot calling the kettle black 12:47  |  realism 06/11/07
      62.   `Palestinians` do not need to Steal Jewish Land for their 12:51  |  Dagma 06/11/07
      63.   PAKISTAN offers your British Moslems free training 12:54  |  PETER S.M. 06/11/07
      64.   Egypt and Gaza smuggling 13:02  |  Ed 06/11/07
      65.   SMUGGLING? 13:09  |  Anton 06/11/07
      66.   Why won`t 13:26  |  Mark Lincoln 06/11/07
      67.   Ackerman 13:28  |  Hilda 06/11/07
      68.   To Cipora Julianna Kohn 13:34  |  Iraqi 06/11/07
      69.   To Cipora Julianna Kohn 13:38  |  Smuggler 06/11/07
      70.   To yimiyahu # 47 - Every Death and Injury Israel suffers 13:39  |  Sandy 06/11/07
      71.   ML`s profound ignorance: the only connection was JEWS 13:58  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 06/11/07
      72.   #59 "Anton" in Germany 13:59  |  Alicia 06/11/07
      73.   What does this FAT American know? 14:02  |  POP 06/11/07
      74.   what do you do with $bills if you have no banking ? 14:18  |  victor hardman 06/11/07
      75.   # 66, MARK LINCOLN 14:28  |  indrajaya 06/11/07
      76.   Ackerman, who pays your salary 14:29  |  Wise Syrian 06/11/07
      77.   #19,Dolly. It is all the fault of Moses 14:38  |  Wise Syrian 06/11/07
      78.   What would be the point of smuggling 14:40  |  Chris Linthwaite 06/11/07
     &