Egypt's Initiative Is in Israel's Interest

Danny Rubinstein

Israel will be making a mistake if it lets the Egyptian initiative slip

away. The full details of the plan have not been made public, but its main

points are known: The Egyptians will arrange a hudna (cease-fire) among all

Palestinian organizations, they will send experts to the Gaza Strip to

organize and rehabilitate the Palestinian security forces, and the

Palestinians will assume responsibility in Gaza after the settlements are

dismantled and the Israel Defence Forces withdraw.

The first problem the Egyptians have is not actually with Israel, but

rather with the Palestinians. The Egyptians have tried to open discussions

with the leadership of Hamas, first of all to stop the firing of Qassam

rockets. Hamas said no. The Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Sami Abu-Zahari,

announced at the end of last week: "The Hamas movement rejects any

initiative, Palestinian or Arab, to stop firing Qassam rockets on Israeli

communities and settlements."

The Palestinian initiative to which he referred was the demand by the

residents of the town of Beit Hanun to stop firing the rockets because IDF

operations in the area, under way for some 10 days, were causing them

severe damage. The residents of Beit Hanun brought their case before the

Supreme Committee of the National and the Islamic Forces, but its members

were unable to arrive at a decision.

Those firing the rockets are apparently heartened by the fact that they

have managed to increase their range and to find hiding places from which

to fire them; consequently, the IDF has had to expand its activities as far

as the outskirts of the Jabalya refugee camp. But what will happen

afterward? How far can they be pursued, how much agricultural land can be

obliterated, how many houses can be destroyed in Gaza?

There is thus enough reason for it to be in Israel's primary interest to

bring a government of law and order to Gaza - before withdrawal and

thereafter. Egyptian involvement in the Strip is the only way to achieve

this. The government of Israel is willing in principle to accept Egyptian

assistance: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon even welcomed it. But when the

Egyptians presented their list of demands from Israel, it turned out that

the gap between the positions of the two countries was great.

The Egyptians want Israel's withdrawal to be complete (land, sea, and air),

although a compromise will probably be made on this point. The Egyptians

will be willing, of course, to be more flexible with regard to their demand

to allow "safe passage" between the West Bank and Gaza, and also with

regard to freedom of movement for Yasser Arafat.

They will not, however, give up on their demand that after withdrawal,

Israel will cease all military operations in Gaza. The Palestinian foreign

minister, Nabil Shaath, who visited Cairo last weekend, discovered that on

this issue, the Egyptians will not budge. All the latest reports state that

the Egyptian authorities are not willing under any circumstances for their

forces to risk danger by becoming involved in fire fights in Gaza. It has

been 30 years since Egyptian and Israeli soldiers last shot at each other,

and the Egyptians do not want to take a chance that this will occur again,

in Gaza.

Another stumbling block that Sharon has placed before the Egyptians is his

demand that Egypt not become an intermediary between Israel and the

Palestinian Authority. The principle of unilaterality in Sharon's plan lost

its significance when the Egyptians, European countries and the U.S. became

involved. The only thing left of it is the boycott of the PA, which the

prime minister strives obsessively to preserve. It is a boycott reminiscent

of the days when Israeli law prohibited meetings with PLO officials. Sharon

seems willing to turn the world upside down, as long as there is no

appearance of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

If the government of Israel insists on this, the involvement of Egypt in

the Gaza Strip will probably be of little value. In the end, the

Palestinians will control Gaza - not the Egyptians. The whole significance

of the Egyptian initiative is about encouraging the withdrawal from Gaza,

which may help resuscitate negotiations between the Israelis and the

Palestinians.

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Source: Ha'aretz, July 12, 2004

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Distributed by the Common Ground News Service.

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