'No threat to Israel'

The Knesset debated changes to the 1978 Israel-Egypt peace treaty Wednesday, ahead of a historic vote that is likely to approve the first deployment of Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Egyptian border police soldiers are due to deploy on the Egypt-Gaza border after IDF troops complete their withdrawal from Gaza, probably sometime in September.

Mofaz: no threat

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the Knesset the IDF is ready to sign the necessary adjustments to the peace treaty with the Egyptian army should the Knesset approve the move.

"Egypt will deploy 750 border police soldiers to replace the Egyptian police currently stationed on the border," he said.

"This force is intended to prevent weapons smuggling, terrorist infiltrations and other criminal activity from Egypt.

"All this is within the responsibility Egypt has taken upon itself as part of the war on terror.

"Both sides have undertaken to improve their military coordination, including intelligence cooperation. Ion addition, we have agreed that the Egyptian deployment will be subject to international inspections.

"The Egyptian deployment does not represent any threat to Israel at all," he said.

Shteinitz raps government

The Knesset debate took place under a cloud of criticism, after KnessetForeign Affairs and Security Committee Chairman Yuval Shteinitz criticized the government in a letter to Knesset members Wednesday morning, saying the 38 minutes the government devoted to discussing the changes were insufficient

He added that he had long felt like a “prophet of doom,” warning of the future, but has encountered "walls" in the government.

Shteinitz said he could not understand why the cabinet held long meetings on the fate of synagogues in Gaza settlements, but barely found time to discuss changes to the peace treaty with Egypt (which allowed the troop deployment).

Shteinitz speaks

“The government felt that 38 minutes was long enough for a deliberation on this issue. It’s hard to believe, but the time the government dedicated to the fate of Gaza synagogues was four times as long as the time given to changes with the peace treaty with Egypt. The confusing array of stances held by the security services on the issue was mostly hidden from the minister.

“The prime minister "generously" decided not to ‘overload’ cabinet ministers with disturbing intelligence files on this decision. Apparently, this was done so that ministers would raise their hand and vote 'yes' without being confused by the facts.”