Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu will be traveling to Egypt to attend an economic conference in Sharm el-Sheikh and to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Talks will surround the ongoing Egyptian initiative towards achieving a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, a deal that will include Hamas’ release of Gilad Shalit.

Netanyahu will be traveling with Livni, while the defense minister will leave on Monday, planning to hold talks with Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman as well.

Also invited to attend the economic conference is President Shimon Peres, who hasn’t yet signaled if he will be attending. Should Mr. Peres attend, he too will hold meetings with senior officials, including President Mubarak.

It is not too likely that Egypt will succeed to arrange for a ceasefire that will include the release of the IDF soldier, who has been in Hamas custody since June 2006.

Binyamin Netanyahu will be meeting with President Mubarak, as well as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Security officials believe that Hamas is interested in a ceasefire with Israel to permit the terror organization to rearm itself after suffering a significant blow from ongoing IDF counter-terror operations in Gaza.

A number of senior security officials are opposed to a ceasefire at present for just this reason, explaining it will serve to permit Hamas to restock and prepare for another round of fighting, as was the case in the last ceasefire.

In the meantime, Israel is continuing to apply pressure on Egypt to clamp down on the Rafiah border crossing which is a primary conduit for terrorists bringing in weapons and ammunition from Sinai to Gaza.

Despite Egypt’s role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, Cairo has yet to fulfill its responsibilities regarding the border crossing.

Israel in the past agreed to abandon the border crossing in return for assurances that Egyptian security will maintain responsibility under the eye of European Union observers. This arrangement has long since proven to be ineffective, and the crossing is a primary corridor for the importation of weapons used by Hamas in Gaza.

In Israel, there is a growing sentiment that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is desperately looking for a ceasefire with Hamas to halt rocket attacks into southern Israel; a move that he hopes will redirect public attention from the ongoing police investigation against him for alleged corruption.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)