Strategic Assessment

Israel’s announcement of the unilateral disengagement plan forced Egypt to reexamine its policy regarding the Palestinian issue. Critical to Egypt was the ability to prove that it remains a strategic asset to the United States and a key to implementation of American foreign policy in the Middle East, even in post-war Iraq and in face of Washington’s determination that Egypt undertake far-reaching economic and political reforms. At the same time, the growing prospect for the establishment of a viable sovereign Palestinian entity confronts Egypt with challenges and dangers. Egypt isaware that its ongoing conduct along the border will be scrutinized in light of its past ideological declarations. Yet on the more tangible level, dissolution of the partition furnished by the Israeli presence in Gaza reconnects the Palestinian and Egyptian populations that were hitherto set apart by the Israel-Egypt peace accord, with a host of resulting economic and security implications.