A violet crisis shook the Israeli government yesterday following the declarations of Major General Amos Gilad, head of the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau, to the Israeli newspaper Maariv. He slammed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for the way he handled Egypt's mediation efforts to reach a truce agreement between the Hamas movement and Israel. In the interview, Amos condemned Olmert's disavowal of the points agreed upon with the Egyptian mediator and his obstinacy to keep the border crossings closed until soldier Shalit is released. He said he could not understand why Olmert had changed his mind at the last minute and modified the order of things agreed upon with the Egyptians. "Suddenly, first we have to get Gilad [before announcing the truce]. I don't understand that. Where does that lead, to insult the Egyptians? To make them want to drop the whole thing?" he said. Gilad described the minister of Olmert's government as fools, saying they intentionally offended 85 million Egyptians and caused serious damage to Israel's national security. He also warned Israeli security officials from arousing Cairo's anger and making it feel that Israel regrets signing the peace treaty with it. Gilad used pungent expressions, such as: "Do you think the Egyptians are working for us?" and "Egypt almost destroyed us in 1948 and defeated us in October 1973." As soon as the interview was published, Olmert summoned Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Major General Gilad to his office before the meeting of the Israeli mini-security cabinet yesterday. He blamed them for what had been published by Maariv. Olmert said Barak was responsible for the interview, as Gilad is a member of the Defense Ministry staff and represents Barak's point of view in favor of the terms and stages of the truce agreement struck by Egypt last week. Olmert said the interview embarrassed him in front of the Egyptian government and the Israeli public opinion, as it portrayed him as the person hampering the truce agreement, offending the Egyptian administration and preventing Shalit's family from having their beloved one back home.
