Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Simcha Dinitz, warned today against over-expectations from an Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty now being negotiated in Washington. He also said that the Israeli Cabinet’s decision to “thicken” existing settlements on the West Bank is “nothing new” and is not a deviation from the Camp David accords. He said that Israel had agreed at Camp David to suspend new settlements for the time being but made no commitments to stop the development of existing settlements.
Addressing on American Jewish Congress luncheon here, the Israeli envoy who has been a participant in the treaty talks, said that a peace treaty cannot solve all the problems of the parties in the future. He said that each party could encounter social and economic problems even after a treaty is signed and not everything “will be rosy.”
Dinitz said that mutual efforts by Israelis and Arabs will help fight the wars against the ravages of hunger, disease and drought in their region. He said that by negotiating a peace treaty with Egypt, Israel wants a peace that will “not only be signed but also felt.” He said a treaty should change the reality of daily life and this is why Israelis insist on the political dimension to create new realities between the two countries that can be translated into daily life.
Dinitz expressed the hope that a comprehensive settlement in the Middle East could be achieved without being conditioned on the outcome of the Israeli-Egyptian settlement.
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