CAIRO/JERUSALEM: The Israeli Minister for Public Security Avi Dichter accused Egypt of allowing arms to enter the Gaza Strip, saying that the Egyptian government has an interest in seeing a "strong Hamas. Speaking about the problem of arms smuggling across the Egypt-Gaza border, Dichter said that "the Egyptians can take immediate and decisive steps to stop it, but haven't done this over the past seven years. His comments on Monday to an army radio station came in response to reports by Shin Beth, the Israeli security service, that arms trafficking has increased dramatically since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip two months ago. He ended by saying that "any sensible Egyptian, Israeli, or Palestinian could not escape the conclusion that Egypt doesn't mind having a strong Hamas in the Gaza Strip. "I believe Egypt has an interest in having a strong Hamas, he said. The Israeli embassy in Cairo confirmed that in a meeting earlier this week the Shin Beth commander told ministers that 40 tons of weapons and explosives have been smuggled from Egypt This includes 13 tons of explosives and 150 anti-tank rocket launchers that have been smuggled into the territory since the beginning of August. In addition, arms smuggling has been increasing steadily over the last three years with 33 tons of explosives entering Gaza in 2006 and 6 tons in 2005. But Dichter's suggestion that Egypt supports Hamas were in direct contradiction to statements that were made by the Egyptian government, including President Hosni Mubarak s denunciation of the Hamas takeover of Gaza. On June 23, 2007 Mubarak called the Hamas uprising a "coup over Palestinian legitimacy in Gaza and warned of "grave setbacks to the Palestinian people. This opposition to Hamas' usurpation of power was affirmed by officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Dichter's accusations were disdainfully dismissed. In a statement yesterday the Foreign Ministry said that "these sorts of comments, which not only reflect a true ignorance of the situation, seek to place responsibility on the Egyptian government for the smuggling to and from Gaza, and this is unacceptable. Former Egyptian Ambassador to Israel Mohammad Bassiouny, who is now the chairman of the Committee on Arab Affairs, Foreign Affairs, and National Security at the Shoura Council, told Daily News Egypt that Egypt "doesn't support any Palestinian factions. "We support the legal body of the Palestinian Authority which is led by Mahmoud Abbas, he said. "We are against the tunnels used for smuggling weapons and we are doing our best to keep the border between Gaza and Egypt secure. He pointed out that even when Israel was occupying Gaza it hadn't been able to prevent the smuggling of weapons into the territory and cited this as proof that keeping the border completely secure is far more difficult than Dichter's comments suggested. Both Israeli and Egyptian security experts also questioned the legitimacy of Dichter's comments regarding Egypt's position on Hamas. "Egypt has no interest in consolidating Hamas, Abdel Aleem Mohamed, an Israel expert at Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Daily News Egypt. He said rather that there simply aren't enough troops along the border to stem the flow of weapons. He also pointed out that "Egypt still considers Hamas to be a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, and would have no interest in supporting or strengthening such a group. Until 1987, Hamas was indeed the Gaza wing of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. At that time - the beginning of the first Palestinian Intifada - its leaders separated from the Muslim Brotherhood and established Hamas as a separate Palestinian Islamist group. However, it still shares many ideological positions with the Muslim Brotherhood, including the creation and implementation of an Islamic state in Palestine. Dr. Mordechai Kedar a security expert at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies agreed with Mohamed, calling Dichter's comments "an exaggeration. "When I heard the remarks I was rather surprised, he told Daily News Egypt in a telephone interview. "For all the respect that I have for Avi Dichter, the statement contradicts so much of what we know. He went very much too far. Kedar said that the comments suggested a lack of understanding of the Egyptian situation. "Maybe he needed to accuse someone, I don't know, he said. However, Kedar did say that smuggling across the Gaza-Egypt border was increasing and creating a significant security problem within Palestine and Israel. But he said that the increase was not due to Egyptian support of Hamas but rather "neglect and lack of effort on the part of the Egyptian authorities. "The Egyptian regime doesn't have control over some regions, especially the Sinai and northern districts like Rafah, he said. "This is the real story. There are problems with enforcement and officials being bribed by Palestinians to let arms through. But what can we expect, that the Egyptian regime will have solved all the problems of a remote region in Northern Sinai? In response to Dichter's statements, the Israeli Ambassador to Egypt Shalom Cohen expressed in a statement to Daily News EgyptIsrael's appreciation of "Egyptian efforts at controlling the flow of weapons. Although he did not address the minister's accusations directly, Cohen said that "Minister Dichter was expressing his worry and frustration at the smuggling of a large amount of weapons to the Gaza Strip. "Prime Minister Olmert and Foreign Minister Livni have conveyed more than once their appreciation regarding Egyptian efforts to stop the ongoing smugglings, he said. He did not say or suggest that Egypt might have an interest in strengthening or supporting Hamas.
