Israel Solidifies Border Plan

In preparation for its pull out of Gaza, Israel's Security Cabinet on Monday considered far-reaching new arrangements for the area's international border crossing, including the deployment of foreign inspectors.

An agreement to allow foreigners to replace Israeli inspectors at the Egypt-Gaza crossing at Rafah would be a major concession by Israel and give Gaza's Palestinians relatively unfettered access to the world for the first time in decades.

Israel has already agreed to allow the Palestinians to rebuild their Gaza seaport, a project that could take years to complete. Gaza's international airport stopped operating after the outbreak of fighting in 2000, when Israel destroyed the runway.

Israel's main concern about the border crossings and ports is that militants could use them to smuggle weapons and infiltrate comrades into Gaza from Egypt after Israel leaves.

A senior EU official, meanwhile, said the European Union is willing to provide customs officers for the future international border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Shimon Peres, Israel's vice-premier, approached the 25-nation bloc with a request to deploy inspectors after Israel pulls out of Gaza in the coming weeks.

The deployment of foreign inspectors is supported by international envoy James Wolfensohn, who has been trying to broker an agreement between the two sides on border crossings. Wolfensohn has urged Israel to make a decision on border arrangements before the withdrawal starts next week. He has said the withdrawal will only be a success if fenced-in Gazans can move freely — a prerequisite for reviving their battered economy.

The Security Cabinet, a group of top ministers, began meeting Monday afternoon, but it was not clear when a decision would be made. If the Rafah model is approved, it could be applied to the Palestinian airport and seaport.

The Security Cabinet met a day after Benjamin Netanyahu resigned as finance minister, in a last-minute protest against the Gaza pullout. The resignation made Netanyahu, a hard-liner and former prime minister with ambitions to reclaim the top job, the new leader of withdrawal opponents.

He was expected to challenge Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for leadership of the ruling Likud Party after the pullout, a move that could lead to elections in coming months.

Netanyahu said he fears the pullout will turn Gaza into a "base of Islamic terror" and endanger Israel. Though he couldn't stop it, he said, he wanted no official part of it. However, Netanyahu also was motivated by political concerns, commentators said.

"I am not prepared to be part of this irresponsible act that threatens the security of the Israel," he said.

After Netanyahu dropped his political bombshell the full Cabinet approved the removal of three isolated Gaza settlements — Kfar Darom, Morag and Netzarim. It was the first in a series of four evacuation votes that are largely a formality, since the government has approved the overall withdrawal.

The pullout starting Aug. 15 will remove about 9,000 settlers from 21 settlements in Gaza and four in the northern West Bank.

Under the current arrangement, Israeli troops patrol a narrow strip between Gaza and Egypt — the so-called Philadelphi road — and Israeli security and customs inspectors are posted at the Rafah crossing.

The Security Cabinet met a day after Benjamin Netanyahu resigned as finance minister, in a last-minute protest against the Gaza pullout. The resignation made Netanyahu, a hardliner and former prime minister with ambitions to reclaim the top job, the new leader of withdrawal opponents.

The EU official who said customs officials could be provided for the new border, whose position prevented her from speaking on the record, said the European Union "is happy to play a positive role, if it's backed by all parties," including the Palestinians and Egyptians, and that consultations with Israelis and Palestinians were ongoing.

However, she expressed doubt that a deal on such a mission could be in place before Israel starts withdrawing Jewish settlers from Gaza on Aug. 17 — a process which will lead to a total troop pullout from the impoverished coastal strip occupied in the 1967 war.

The issue of foreign inspectors was being discussed Monday by Israel's Security Cabinet.

An EU mission would need the backing of all EU nations.

The move would have diplomatic significance beyond the security and logistical concerns. The EU has long sought a role in the Middle East peace process — while Israel, accusing the Europeans of bias in favor of the Palestinians, has generally kept them at arm's length.

The deployment of foreign inspectors is supported by international envoy James Wolfensohn, who has been trying to broker an agreement between the two sides on border crossings.

Wolfensohn has urged Israel to make a decision on border arrangements before the withdrawal starts next week.

The EU has said a withdrawal must allow Palestinians to move freely so economic revival can take root.

Though some settlers are expected to resist their removal, Haim Altman, a spokesman for the government agency in charge of compensating the settlers, said 1,018 of the 1,700 affected families had applied for compensation.

The ruling Likud Party largely opposes the pullout, and Netanyahu's resignation was seen as the opening move in his campaign to wrest the party leadership from Sharon ahead of next year's elections.

Instant polls published in Israeli newspapers Monday showed Sharon maintaining a strong lead over Netanyahu. A survey of 498 people published in the Maariv newspaper showed 47 percent of voters supporting Sharon as prime minister over Netanyahu, who had the support of 28 percent. Among Likud voters, 51 percent favored Sharon over 34 percent in favor of Netanyahu. The margin of error was 4.4 percent.

Netanyahu has a well-known flair for the dramatic. A fluent English speaker, he became Israel's main foreign policy spokesman in the 1990s and has a large following in the United States. He once did a live TV interview wearing a gas mask against a possible Iraqi chemical attack.