Egypt Should Arrest, not Entertain, Palestinian Terrorists

The New York Times reported on Friday that Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman hosted a delegation of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad members for discussions on reaching a cease-fire with Israel in Gaza. Instead of welcoming the Palestinian terrorists with open arms and hot coffee, the Egyptian official -- whose country signed a "peace" treaty with Israel and is bound by United Nations resolutions to fight terrorism -- should have summoned his security men and arrested and jailed his guests for transfer to Israeli or US authorities. The US and Israel should demand that Egypt stop providing the political cover these terrorist groups need to survive. The solution to terrorism is not to strike a deal with these groups but, rather, to dismantle them and starve them of legitimacy.