IDF soldier patrols border - Will Egyptian army replace IDF?
Photo: Chaim Hornstein
‘Keep Egypt away from border’
Allowing Egyptian forces to deploy on the Gaza border is “not a good idea,” Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells reporters. Another disengagement following Gaza pullout is inadvisable, he says
TEL AVIV - Deploying Egyptian troops on the Gaza border is not a wise move, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reports Sunday.
Notably, the proposed deployment of Egyptian forces along the border would require amendments to the peace process, which bans Egyptian soldiers from the area.
“It’s not a good idea to bring an Egyptian army to the Israel-Egypt border,” he said during a briefing at his office. “We should keep the peace agreement with Egypt as it is and not change it.”
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The implication of deploying Egyptian troops on the contentious Philadelphi Route is that “an Egyptian army will have to kill and be killed for us,” the finance minister said.
Sharon denies reports of ‘second pullout’
Commenting on reports that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is planning another unilateral withdrawal following the Gaza pullout, Netanyahu said Sharon’s denial Sunday was “very important.”
“It’s highly inadvisable to implement another unilateral disengagement. What would the other side understand from it?” he said.
During Sunday’s government session, Sharon strongly denied reports regarding the formulation of a “second disengagement,” to follow the upcoming exit from Gaza and the northern West Bank
The matter was not even raised in recent meetings with senior American officials, the prime minister said.
Sharon said he told Bush Israel’s position was that the only game in town was the road map, but that progress on the plan cannot be made before the Palestinians meet the demands imposed on them, namely a genuine counter-terrorism effort.
