"Those words should never have been said," Olmert said in a statement.
"From the moment they were uttered those words were nothing but useless and
harmful. Egypt and Mubarak are [Israel's] strategic partners."
Israeli sources said the military has been closely following the
Egyptian buildup in the Sinai. The sources said that so far the military has
determined that the Egyptian buildup was limited to internal security rather
than combat operations.
"The peace with Egypt is a strategic asset for the state of Israel,"
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said. "Egypt is a responsible and
important factor in the Middle East."
In late October, Israeli Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad discussed
Egypt's military presence. The sources said Gilad cited an Egyptian Navy
exercise in October, reported to have been the largest ever and which cited
Israel as the enemy. Egypt's navy has been deemed the largest in the Arab
world.
"The provocation came in the form of the massive military exercise Egypt
held several days ago, that identified us as the enemy," Lieberman said in a
television interview on Nov. 1. "You have the smuggling of arms into Gaza
and Hamas' hands from the Sinai. If Egypt genuinely wanted to put an end to
it they could."
Israeli sources said the Egyptian buildup in the Sinai began in 2005
when Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip. At the time, the government of
then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon approved the Egyptian deployment of 750
special troops along the demilitarized Sinai-Gaza border.
Within months, Egypt proposed the stationing of another 2,500 troops in
eastern Sinai. In early 2008, amid massive Palestinian infiltration and
weapons smuggling, Egypt sent several thousand troops to the eastern
peninsula as part of a counter-insurgency operation. The Israeli sources
said Egypt did not ask for Israeli permission despite the violation of the
peace treaty.
Former Mossad director Efraim Halevy agreed that Egypt was expanding its
troop presence in the Sinai. But Halevy said Egypt's intentions were not
hostile.
"I don't think that Egypt is planning war against Israel," Halevy said.
"Egypt, like Israel, is preparing for any possibility. The same way we ask
where Egypt is heading, they ask where Israel is heading."
