Hanan Awarekeh Readers Number : 147
23/04/2009 For Egypt, it’s always a different approach when it comes to Israel. Cairo is seeking to thaw tensions with Israel which erupted after Avigdor Lieberman was appointed top diplomat in the Zionist government.
Observers say that the Egyptian regime should have saved face by, at least, not taking the initiative and rush to mend fences with Tel Aviv, especially that Lieberman has called for destroying Aswan’s High Dam if Egypt deployed its military in the Sinai and his extremist party Israel Beitunu believes that Arabs should either be killed or thrown in deserts and seas.
On Wednesday evening, the new Israeli Foreign Minister Lieberman met in occupied Jerusalem with visiting Egyptian intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman. Lieberman held "an important and constructive meeting" with Suleiman "in a friendly atmosphere," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.The low-key meeting took place a week after Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit declared Lieberman would "not set foot on Egyptian soil."
"When a man speaks he must be aware that the words traveling from his brain to his tongue will have consequences," Aboul Gheit said in an interview last week. "Therefore, we will work with the government of Israel but not through the Israeli foreign minister. I do not imagine that he will set foot on Egyptian soil so long as his positions, which we have seen before, remain as they are."
The meeting took place between Suleiman's meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres. It was the first high-level meeting between the two countries since Netanyahu's government was sworn in last month. It was apparently kept secret at Cairo's request due to recent tensions sparked by Lieberman's rhetoric.
The Israeli foreign minister repeatedly stressed his appreciation of Egypt as a strategic partner, and his aides said the tense diplomatic relations appear to have thawed after the meeting.
Peres and Suleiman discussed the cooperation between Israel and Egypt, and the efforts to stop the flow of arms into the Gaza Strip through the Sinai. Peres thanked Suleiman for Egypt's role in promoting stability in the Middle East, adding that Israel views its peace treaty with Egypt as vitally important.
At Suleiman's meeting with Netanyahu earlier in the day, the Israeli prime minister said: "Egypt and Israel have shared interests, the most important of which is peace. Our relationship is one of mutual respect, friendship, and cooperation. I use this opportunity to send a warm greeting to President (Hosni) Mubarak."
Part of the meeting was also attended by Mossad chief Meir Dagan and National Security Council head Uzi Arad.
Suleiman on his part invited Netanyahu to a meeting with Mubarak, though a date has yet to be set. He also invited Lieberman, and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Barak accepted the offer and said he planned to visit Egypt after Netanyahu.
"The relations between Egypt and Israel are of strategic importance," Barak said. "Israel sees Egypt as an important player in regional processes, arrangements, and in cooperation that can lead to regional stability."
Israeli Foreign Ministry officials said on Tuesday that one of reasons for Suleiman's visit was to thaw the ties between the two countries. The appointment of Lieberman to the office of foreign minister greatly exacerbated existing tensions. In the past Lieberman has made a number of statements that have enraged Cairo. During a speech in the Knesset six months ago he told President Mubarak that he "could go to hell" if he did not want to come to Israel.
Suleiman began his visit meeting with Barak, and the two discussed a series of issues pertaining to security and political matters in the region, including the efforts to release captive Israeli occupation soldier Gilad Shalit, yet Suleiman has forgotten that there are around 12000 Palestinian detainees in the Israeli jails including women and minors along with officials and parliamentarians.
For Egypt, Suleiman's meetings were an opportunity to see where Israel stands on the peace process and the Gaza Strip, which has been relatively quiet since Israel's “Operation Cast Lead” in January.
"It's important to explore what the Israeli side is thinking about during this initial phase, in terms of the relationship with the Palestinians, the cease-fire, [and] many issues," Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki told The Jerusalem Post.
Egypt has "never abandoned its efforts to reach a cease-fire," but it was premature to tell whether the new Israeli government was ready to renew an agreement with Hamas, Zaki said before Suleiman's meetings. "First one has to know what is in their cards," he said.
There was currently "a de facto cease-fire" between Israel and Hamas, because neither side wanted to escalate the situation, Zaki said. "They want to maintain it as is without reaching a deal," he said. "I'm not saying we are happy [about that]. I'm not saying either party is happy. This is the way it has been done. It has been this way because of Israel's position" until now, he said.
Egypt is particularly concerned with the continuation of the blockade on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the humanitarian situation there. "The humanitarian situation is precarious," he said. "Something has to be done, such as opening the crossings, lifting the blockade, letting normal items go in, food, medicine, fuel, everything."
It is worth mentioning that Egypt has been closing Rafah crossing, the only gate that connects Gaza with the outer worlds, since Israeli blockade.
Zaki declined to comment on the Lieberman issue. The Egyptian government has also expressed reservations about Netanyahu, saying they were disappointed he had not made any reference to a future Palestinian state.
Experts in Tel Aviv noted Suleiman was the closest person to Mubarak and that his visit "was a mission of trust" from the president.
"Now, there is a new government, with new people, and there are rumors in the Israeli press and no one knows exactly what Netanyahu thinks, where he's headed," said Zvi Mazel, a former ambassador to Egypt.
"It's very normal and natural to send his most trusted man to maybe present a message to Netanyahu and to listen to him and to continue [dealing] with all these problems. They are very heavy: the Hamas-Fatah dialogue, the truce, Gilad Shalit. It's very tough," he said.
EGYPT DENIES INVITING LIEBERMAN TO VISIT
Meanwhile, Egypt's foreign ministry denied on Thursday that Israel's Lieberman has been invited to visit Egypt, despite Israeli claims to the contrary.
"This news is devoid of truth," a ministry statement said of an Israeli foreign ministry claim that Lieberman had been invited to Egypt during a visit to occupation Jerusalem on Wednesday by Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.
"The Egyptian intelligence chief only extended an invitation to the head of the Israeli government to visit Egypt at a time which will soon be agreed," it said, referring to hawkish new Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
(El Rayess would rather "go to hell" than support the Palestinians!)
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