A partner, not a rival - Haaretz

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Fri., December 28, 2007 Tevet 19, 5768

Israel Time: 01:47 (EST+7)

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Last update - 04:37 26/12/2007

A partner, not a rival

By Haaretz Editorial

Tags: Egypt, Hosni Mubarak

Defense Minister Ehud Barak expects the Iron Dome rocket interceptor system to be ready to protect the people of Sderot in two and a half years. But if Sderot residents are forced to wait until this advanced system can protect them, the rocket fire of the last few weeks shows that they can expect to be hit by tens of thousands more rockets before their salvation arrives. It would not be unreasonable, therefore, to demand that the defense minister immediately examine additional ways of resolving the threat from Gaza.

Barak's planned meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak today could present an opportunity to achieve this goal. Israel accuses Egypt of ineffectively guarding the Egypt-Gaza border. The charges Israel has made to U.S. officials include the smuggling of weapons and materiel used to manufacture Qassam rockets, the infiltration of terrorists and smugglers, and Egyptian soldiers turning a blind eye toward, and possibly even helping, terrorists. This list prompted Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to warn that Egypt's failure to take action on these issues was affecting relations between the two countries. But these allegations, and the Egyptian denials, taint Israeli-Egyptian relations in an area where they share a common interest and a basis for close cooperation.

Egypt, which is fighting radical terrorists in its own country and deals harshly with the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is an offshoot, does not want Hamas' military wing to get stronger, and certainly does not want the small terrorist groups nourished by collaborators in Sinai to get stronger. Egypt agreed to deploy 750 policemen along its border with Gaza, and then roughly doubled that number. It is now proposing to increase the border force by a few thousand more, since it recognizes the importance of sealing the smuggling route. Egypt is also requesting additional sophisticated monitoring equipment and permission to operate aerial inspection systems.

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At the same time, Egypt is also active in the political sphere. It is continuing its attempts to reconcile Fatah and Hamas in an effort to establish a Palestinian unity government that would take overall responsibility for security. Egypt is also continuing its efforts to bring about the release of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit via negotiations with the organizations responsible for his abduction.

Israel has reservations about an increased Egyptian military force along the border, seeing it as an Egyptian attempt to violate the Camp David Accords. It is also not encouraging the dialogue between Egypt and Hamas, even though Israel itself is prepared to reach a deal with Hamas on Shalit's release. But these reservations are out of place, since Egypt has worked tirelessly to advance peace processes in the region and was the pioneer in making peace with Israel, at a very high price from its perspective.

Barak's meeting in Egypt, then, has two purposes: demonstrating the importance of the alliance between Israel and Egypt by reviving a positive atmosphere between the two countries, and creating an infrastructure for effective cooperation against terrorism in the Gaza Strip. Egypt is not an enemy country, or even a rival that needs to be slapped down. It is worthy of Israel's trust.

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1.	A Partner? How Naive	10:24	\|	Roger	26/12/07

2.	Sheer nonsense by those who deemed also Arafat worthy of trust	12:10	\|	Absolute Sweden	26/12/07

3.	Equality will Stop Rockets	14:57	\|	Straight Talk	26/12/07

4.	A group of morons, not an editorial board	15:01	\|	David Teich	26/12/07

5.	Egypt one of the most hostile countries towards Israel	15:19	\|	Krystal	26/12/07

6.	A partner, not a rival	15:34	\|	ILETZTER	26/12/07

7.	Egypt`s request	17:31	\|	marv	26/12/07

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