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Israeli Politician Warns of Egyptian Regional Role
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, July 16 (IslamOnline) - As some Israeli right-wing politicians criticized Foreign Minister Shimon Peres for again meeting with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, extremist Likud member of parliament, Yuval Steinitz, blasted Peres for going to Egypt, the first Arab Muslim country to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state, an Israeli newspaper said Monday.
"It is sad to see that the current government under the leadership of Ariel Sharon is repeating the dangerous mistake of [Yitzhak] Rabin and Peres several years ago" by allowing the Egyptians to play a role in Israel's bilateral ties with the Palestinians, Steinitz was quoted as saying in the right-wing daily, The Jerusalem Post.
Rather than serving as a fair broker between the sides, Steinitz charged that Egypt's true aim is to maintain a long war of attrition between the Israelis and Palestinians, in an effort to bleed and weaken Israel and thereby strengthen Egypt's position as the region's "stabilizer" and true super-power.
There was no immediate reaction from Egypt. Cairo, however, has held Israel responsible for the ongoing wave of violence with the Palestinians and recalled its ambassador from Israel in the first months of the current Intifada.
Both countries signed a peace treaty in 1979, effectively ending decades of wars between Egypt and its Jewish neighbor. Relations between the two former foes soured as Israel began a military onslaught against Palestinians protesting against illegal Israeli occupation and Jewish encroachments on Muslim holy sites.
"It seems the main goal of the current Egyptian policy is to let Israel and the Palestinians exhaust each other in a long war of attrition," the right-wing politician said.
"On the one hand, the Egyptians made an effort to prevent Arafat from signing an end to the conflict with Israel a year ago during the Camp David summit, warning him that any consent to the division of Jerusalem's Old City between Jews and Muslims would be considered treason."
On the other hand, Steinitz said, "Egypt is leading the Arab league in an effort to prevent Israel from changing the rules of the game vis-ŕ-vis the Palestinians, and launch a [military] offensive that would put an end to the current violence."
Steinitz termed Peres's trip to Cairo and his acceptance of Egyptian mediation before Egypt's return of their ambassador to Tel Aviv, as "unthinkable". He also cited that the visit comes prematurely, especially following warnings by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his advisor, Osama el-Baz, about what would happen to Egyptian-Israeli relations if Israel attacks Syria or tries to topple the Palestinian Authority.
Steinitz also said that it is important to remember that Egypt is "the only state in the Middle East busying itself with decisive military preparations for the possibility of a future armed conflict with the State of Israel."
Steinitz, a notoriously radical politician, said that he rejects the argument that the recent strident comments from Cairo are intended only to relieve domestic Egyptian pressure. The Egyptian people have been actively calling upon their government to take actions in support of the Palestinians.
"I completely reject this analysis," Steinitz said. "In non-democratic regimes, it is not public opinion that shapes the opinion of the government, but vice versa. It is the government that is shaping public opinion, through its total control of the media and the educational system."
Steinitz blamed the Egyptian leadership, not Israel, for the current "anti-Israel sentiment" in the Arab world's most populated country.
"If the Egyptian public after Oslo is demanding an end to diplomatic relations with Israel and sees Israel as an enemy - even more than before the peace process 25 years ago - and if people in Egypt are mentally prepared to go for a war against Israel - it's because the Egyptian leadership decided that that is what they want," he said.
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