Israel and Egypt have apparently agreed to avoid a crisis over Egypt’s recognition of the independent Palestinian state proclaimed by Yasir Arafat in Algiers Nov. 15.
Israel’s protest to Cairo was relatively mild and the Egyptian response was conciliatory.
Shimon Shamir, Israel’s ambassador to Egypt, met with Foreign Minister Esmat Abdel Meguid in Cairo.
He said afterward that the Egyptian minister stressed the new situation could be used constructively to advance the peace process.
Shamir told Army Radio later that the question is not how Israel should react, but rather how to pursue the peace process in light of the new development.
His remarks reflected a consensus in the Foreign Ministry that there is no point in getting overly excited by the Egyptian move, which was not unexpected.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres on Monday summoned Mohammed Basiouny, the Egyptian ambassador, to convey Israel’s displeasure.
Basiouny emerged from the meeting with Peres, reiterating Egypt’s commitment to the peace process.
EGYPT JOINS IN RECOGNITION
The Israelis were nevertheless disturbed when it became clear Sunday — after conflicting reports from Cairo — that Egypt joined with more than 30 countries in formally recognizing an independent Palestine.
The Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty of 1979 is grounded in the Camp David accords, which prescribe a five-year period of autonomy for the West Bank and Gaza Strip after which permanent status would be decided.
Those provisions have not been implemented, but recognition of the declaration by Palestine Liberation Organization chief Arafat could be interpreted as a violation of Camp David.
The Foreign Ministry evidently does not view the Egyptian move as gravely as the director general of the Prime Minister’s Office, Yossi Ben-Aharon.
He said Monday that Egypt’s recognition was a gross violation of the Camp David agreements.
But there seems little likelihood that the Labor-Likud caretaker government will make an issue of the dispute.
It will be replaced shortly, probably by a Likud-led coalition of extreme right-wing and religious parties.
Ideologically motivated hard-liners may well utilize Egypt’s recognition of Palestine as an excuse not to return the Taba region as required by binding arbitration.
Arafat, meanwhile, has gotten a royal welcome in Cairo. He is in the midst of touring Arab countries to try to work out a common front before he addresses the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week.
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.
