What's in a Handshake?
By Tzippe Barrow
CBN News - Jerusalem Bureau
January 3, 2008
CBNNews.com - JERUSALEM, Israel - A week ago, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak was shaking hands with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, following a meeting at a golf resort in Sharm el-Sheikh.
On his first trip to Egypt since assuming the defense ministry in June, Barak went with several key issues in mind.
In addition to talking about Egypt's less-than-stalwart monitoring of the border between Sinai and the Gaza Strip, the two leaders would discuss the release of captured Israeli army corporal, Gilad Shalit, held by Hamas for nearly a year and a half.
One of the most pressing issues on the agenda would be the group of Gaza Muslims returning from the haj pilgrimmage to Mecca.
At the beginning of December, Egypt opened its side of the Rafah crossing to allow 1,700 Palestinians from Gaza to travel to Saudi Arabia.
At the time, Israeli intelligence estimated that two dozen senior Hamas terrorists were among the travelers. While some of them were headed for training in Iran or Lebanon, others planned to rendezvous with Arab leaders in Mecca, among them Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The Hamas reps would receive millions of dollars to take back to Gaza.
Initially, Egypt stuck with its promise not to allow the pilgrims to reenter Gaza through the Rafah crossing.
But after a five-day standoff during which they threatened everything from hunger strikes to arson, the pilgrims, along with Fatah security officers who'd been stranded in Egypt since the Hamas coup in June, crossed into Gaza at Rafah.
Israel was appalled at Egypt's decision.
"This is against all agreements," a senior defense official told The Jerusalem Post's Yaacov Katz, calling it "grounds for a diplomatic crisis."
Egypt says it informed Israel of its decision; Israel says it was never told.
Meanwhile, Hamas called it "a victory for the resistance."
Hamas Celebrates
On Wednesday evening, Hamas terror chief and former PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh praised the returning pilgrims in a televised speech. Haniyeh called their return through the Rafah crossing a "victory for our path, a respectable path, and for the resistance and for the adherence to Palestinian principles."
"We thank Egypt for not bowing to the extortion that was used against it and the pressures -- especially the pressure and the threats that Israel hurled at the Egyptian foreign minister -- and enabling the return of the pilgrims," he said.
And others agreed.
"This is a humanitarian case since the start," said Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri. "Egypt's position was laudable. We thank Egypt," he said.
A Slap in the Face to Abbas
Israeli officials called the Hamas victory a diplomatic slap in the face to Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party.
"Egypt essentially allowed Hamas to stand up to Abu Mazan [Mahmoud Abbas] and Israel and declare they've won," said one Israeli official.
"Egypt did something that places them at a very problematic place on the scale. They basically allowed Hamas to declare this as a victory for the resistance. There is no doubt that these things strengthen the claims made through diplomatic channels against Egypt and the situation along its border with Gaza, as well as its general stance on the issue of the Rafah border crossing and the border. It is unclear how, if at all, they will be able to explain this," he said.
Israel said its reasons for wanting the Palestinians to return through the Kerem Shalom crossing wasn't about aggravating the pilgrims, but rather about preventing terrorists and cash from being smuggled into the Gaza Strip.
In an interview published in Monday's Jerusalem Post, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said how much he valued Egypt's friendship and that he prayed for Hosni Mubarak every day.
A handshake used to mean a lot. Today -- well maybe not.
Sources: The Jerusalem Post, YNet news service, Haaretz, israel insider
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