_a.jpg "צילום: מרק ישראל סלם, ג'רוזלם פוסט")
Building fence near Egyptian border
Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post
Egypt riots: MKs fear more infiltrators
As uprising reaches Sinai near Gaza Strip, Knesset House Committee chairman fearful of flow of infiltrators from fenceless border
Is the spreading anarchy in Egypt going to cause a heavy price to Israeli demographic? Knesset Interior Affairs and Environment Committee Chairman David Azoulay (Shas)
expressed his concerns on Sunday that the uprising against Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak
would lead to a massive flow of infiltrates into Israel.
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During a committee visit to Eilat, Azoulay demanded that the government instruct the IDF to survey the entire Egyptian border.
As part of a discussion on the worrying increase in infiltrators entering Israel illegally, the meeting's participants raised the need to establish a Border Guard unit to handle the fenceless border situation.
Israel began to build a security fence along the Egyptian border in 2010, in order to prevent refugees from Sudan and other African countries from entering. For the first time since the Egyptian riots began last week, violent outbursts broke on Saturday in Sinai, not far from the Gaza Strip, threatening the area and killing at least a dozen people.
The Knesset Interior Affairs and Environment Committee announced on Sunday its plan to hold a meeting to discuss the government's immigration policy, including a recommendation to examine the status of infiltrators as refugees or people seeking work. The committee expressed concern over the fact that up until Sunday, only four indictments were filed without sentencing those who aid infiltrators enter Israel.
The committee is expected to further recommend allocating resources to Eilat's city council so it might deal with the infiltration phenomenon.
"If the government won't form a policy, nothing will happen. The Knesset is hiding its head in the sand, and we will warn all of those concerned," said Azoulay.
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