IMRA Newsletter
Maj.Gen. Samia: Rely on Egypt, clueless why Egypt not acting now
13 May 2004
Maj.-Gen. (res.)Yom Tov Samia, former head of IDF Southern Command who supports withdrawal from the Gaza Strip told Israel Radio this morning that Israel should not retain control of the Philadelphi Corridor that separates between Egypt and Israel and should make Egypt responsible to prevent the movement of weapons from Egypt to the Gaza Strip.
In response to a question, Samia conceded that he was clueless why Egypt until now has not done anything to stop the flow of weapons.
The morning news magazine anchor declined to follow up on Samia's admission that he was clueless to ask why he thought Egypt would change its policy of not preventing the flow of weapons from Egypt if Israel withdraws.
While Samia supports withdrawal from Gaza, he also warned in the interview that if Israel withdraws without proper security arrangements (based on the Egyptians who he concedes don't act now and others) that Israel will find itself having it considerably more difficult to carry out operations against the terrorists if it leaves the Gaza Strip.