Rivlin seeks to delay Egyptian troop deployment along Philadelphi Route
Knesset speaker: We must determine whether our agreement to deployment requires Knesset approval.
By Gideon Alon and Haaretz CorrespondentKnesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin asked Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Wednesday evening to recommend that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon hold off on signing any documents relating to the deployment of Egyptian troops along southern Gaza's Philadelphi Route.
Rivlin said such a move must be delayed until it has been clarified whether or not the matter requires Knesset approval.
The Knesset speaker also asked Likud MK Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, to convene the panel to discuss the matter.
Rivlin, who spoke by telephone on Wednesday with Mazuz, asked for the delay after receiving a legal opinion on the matter from the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee's legal advisor Miri Frenkel-Shor.
She said that while international agreements needn't technically be brought before the Knesset for parliamentary approval, this has nevertheless become standard practice.
The peace agreement with Egypt itself was approved by the Knesset in March 1979.
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