Israeli Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom asked Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for help in preventing a terrorist takeover of the Gaza Strip after Israel unilaterally withdraws in July, and for assistance in developing relations between Israel and Arab nations.
Israel fears that the security vacuum left by its planned pullout could be filled by terrorist forces, creating what some have called a “Taliban effect” in the Gaza Strip.
Shalom, who visited Mubarak in Egypt on Tuesday, also said that a major deal under which Egypt would supply Israel with natural gas is nearing completion.
It was announced in 2000, but became bogged down because of the Palestinian violence that erupted in September of that year and affected all aspects of Israel’s relationships with Arab nations, even Egypt and Jordan with whom Israel enjoys good relations.