Officials said the Israeli decision would result in the deployment of
nearly 1,000 Egyptian troops in northeastern Sinai, demilitarized under the
1979 peace treaty. They said some of the soldiers would be allocated to
protect a natural gas terminal that supplies both Israel and Jordan. On Feb. 5, Palestinian insurgents linked to Al Qaida blew up the terminal, which halted gas exports.
On Jan. 30, Israel approved the Egyptian deployment of at least 1,500
troops in Sinai in a gesture to the then-besieged Mubarak. At the time,
officials said, the Egyptian regime did not have sufficient security forces
to battle Bedouin insurgents. They said Egypt has already deployed all of
the troops granted under the first request.
Israel has been concerned that the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak
would result in a hostile Egyptian policy toward the Jewish state. Officials said the greatest danger was that the new military regime in Cairo, prodded by the opposition, would demand the end of the demilitarization of Sinai, a key element of the peace treaty. The opposition has already called for the halt of gas supplies to Israel.
The Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot reported that the Egyptian military
deployment, which could reach a total of 3,000 troops, would be temporary.
But officials acknowledged that the Egyptian military was expected to resist any pressure to withdraw the newly-deployed troops.
"The agreement is for Egyptian forces to remain in the peninsula till
things quiet down and till Egyptian security succeeds in controlling and
stemming the violence in the area, caused by Bedouin
tribes," Yediot said.
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