Former Egyptian War Minister, Gen. Abdul Ghani of-Gamassy, who served as Egypt’s chief of operations during the Yom Kippur War, said today that there is no longer an option of war between Israel and Egypt.
Gamassy spoke into telephone interview with the Israel Army Radio commemorating the seventh anniversary of the war. It was the first time Gamassy gave oh interview to on Israeli news medium since he was believed of his position shortly after President Anwar Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem in November, 1977.
Gamassy said the Yom Kippur War was a turning point in the Arab Israeli conflict, in that if eventually led to the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt: He refrained from making specific comments on the Yom Kippur War, merely saying that as far as he was concerned the war was conducted satisfactorily. He said he would make a more elaborate appraisal of the war in a book he is now writing. Gamassy has retired from both military and political life.
Gamassy, stressing that the war option no longer exists in the relations between the two countries, added: “As for as other Arab countries are concerned — it is up to them. “He said Egypt did not choose Oct. 6, 1973, the attack day, because it was Yom Kippur. “We had other reasons,” he said, but did not elaborate. At the end of the interview he conveyed his regards to all Israelis.
Gamassy was the head of the Egyptian delegation to the separation of forces talks which took place at the Kilometer 101 signpost. His Israeli counterpart was Gen. Aharon Yariv, now head of the Tel Aviv University Strategic institute.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
