Egypt, Hamas, Negev Border and Terrorism

Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff try to put some sense into the developing situation. Bottom lines: Cooperation with the Egyptians is rather good (the Egyptians like Hamas only a tad more than we do). All sorts of Palestinian groups are ratcheting up their attempts to hit Israel, and yesterday's attack is an example of this: two separate organizations claimed the glory of it, apparently because each of them sent two-man squads into southern Israel, and so each assumes the squad that reached Dimona is theirs.

And note that the policy of taking PLO terrorists in the West Bank off the wanted lists in return for PA assurances they would do no harm, much acclaimed a few months ago, is looking ever more rickety. But also note that, contrary to what I wrote yesterday, it seems there is significant support for building a fence along the Egyptian border in the Negev. The subtext here is that the first line of defense, of keeping Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, is crumbling, and rather than try to bolster it, we should move to the second, more expensive, but also more reliable line of defense along our border.