The Weekly Portion: The Egyptian-Saudi conspiracy

Since Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip, all border crossings have been closed between Gaza and Israel and between Gaza and Egypt.

The passage of goods for humanitarian purposes is conducted temporarily through the Sufa crossing or the Kerem Shalom crossing which is essentially a border delineation. In the tunnels dug between Sinai and the Rafiah area in the Gaza Strip - a phenomenon Egypt has still not managed to control or shut down - the smuggling of weapons and arms, money and operatives are a common occurrence.

When the time came for the pilgrimage to Mecca (the hajj), PA leader Mahmoud Abbas coordinated with Israel the passage of hundreds of pilgrims through Jordanian bridges, where once on the Jordanian side, Saudi officials were to be waiting to stamp their passports. The gesture was meant to bolster Abbas's political standing and prevent Hamas operatives from making their way to training facilities in Iran and to other meetings.

The Saudis delayed in responding to the Palestinian-Saudi-Jordanian arrangement. Then, Egypt opened the Rafiah crossing and let hundreds of Gazans pass through without checking if any were Hamas members (and there were many, including senior operatives).

And lo and behold - Saudi officials were waiting for them on the Egyptian side to stamp their passports. Meaning, there was some Egyptian-Saudi conspiracy which served to assist Hamas while humiliating the Palestinian Authority President. It became clear that among the pilgrims were senior Hamas officials who in addition to making the holy journey to Mecca, also went for political talks in the Saudi Kingdom.

Both Israel and Abbas regarded this Egyptian maneuver gravely. The defense minister flew to Sharm-e-Sheikh to meet with President Mubarak who promised him that the Gazans who exited without inspections through the Rafah crossing would be obligated to re-enter through the Israeli Kerem Shalom border crossing.

In this way, Israel could prevent the re-entry of Hamas men and any finances intended for Hamas. A reminder: in September, Egypt allowed hundreds of Hamas men trained in Iran to re-enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing. Last week, Egypt once-again violated the agreement and allowed the re-entry of the pilgrims, among them Hamas operatives smuggling money, into Gaza through the Rafah crossing, without inspection.

In doing so, Egypt breached a Presidential promise it made to Defense Minister Barak, boosted Hamas's rule in Gaza by demonstrating that it is not that isolated, permitted Hamas terrorists trained in Iran to enter Gaza without having to crawl through tunnels and enriched Hamas's coffers by millions of dollars.

There are many ways to explain the Egyptians' surprising and damaging behavior. Isn't Mubarak's regime fighting the 'Muslim Brotherhood', and isn't Gaza's Hamas essentially its sister organization? The continuation of Hamas's rule is a negative and dangerous precedent for the Egyptian government. Why strengthen the terror acts against Israel?

Because there are no logical answers to these questions, there is now a dark shadow over Egypt's credibility with regards to its struggle with Islamic terror. Even in this matter, we have no one to rely on but ourselves.