And another spectacularly stupid idea goes south

Just a little over a year has passed since US Secretary Rice brokered the deal which turned over control of the Philadelphi Corridor to the Egyptians with a European Union team acting as monitors. Now Israel Knesset members are demanding the Israeli government take back control of the corridor reports the Jerusalem Post:

Gil Pensioners Party chairman Rafi Eitan and Shas chairman Eli Yishai called for increased IDF action in the Gaza Strip and for Israel to retake control of the Philadelphi Route during Sunday morning's cabinet meeting.

Eitan said that the Gaza Strip was "a problem," noting the continued fire of Kassam rockets into southern Israel. He called for the return of the Philadelphi Route, the strip of land currently under full control of Egyptian border guards and used by Palestinians smuggling weapons via tunnels from Egypt to Gaza. Eitan said that the IDF must monitor the area for an extended period of time.

Eitan pointed a finger at the Egyptians, saying that an alternative to the IDF returning to the Philadelphi corridor would be "if the Egyptians would cooperate," remarking that even if the IDF were to regain control of the area, the Egyptians would need to support the decision. "If they [the Egyptians] don't, we need to think twice about staying," he said. The minister said that Israel needed to deal with problematic areas of the Gaza Strip, and not retake the entire region. Yishai also supported the move, reminding the cabinet that even before the Philadelphi pullout, he had warned that it would lead to disaster.

The IDF returned to the Philadelphi Route for the first time since the disengagement to locate and destroy weapons tunnels. The army has found nearly 20, including one that ran 12 meters deep, since resuming operations in Gaza after the kidnapping of Cpl. Gilad Shalit on June 25.

What always amazed me was why the Sharon Administration went along with Rice’s plan. Initially, I assumed there were three distinct possible explanations. There had to either be a huge ‘Jack in the beanstalk’ sized carrot, blackmail, or monumental stupidity.

The carrot hasn’t materialized, and I would rather believe Rice drilled some pretty big screws but I still can’t rule monumental stupidity completely as I am still reeling after the Olmert Administration’s conduct of the war with Lebanon.

But there is a larger lesson here for all Israeli governments to take to heart. You cannot outsource the security of the Israeli people to anyone else but the Israeli people; regardless of how the wolves dress-up or which accent comes out their mouths.