The Egyptian Ambassador to West Germany, Aisha Rateb, has suggested that her country serve as a mediator between Israel and the Arab states of the “rejection front” to convince them to join the Middle East peace process and contribute to it. But she maintained that Egypt has only a limited role to play with respect to Palestinian autonomy, according to an interview published in Die Welt.
Without the participation of all Arab countries, it is impossible to reach a permanent peace in the region, the envoy said. “After we recover our national territory,” referring to Israel’s withdrawal from Sinai completed today, “we will be in a better position to serve as a go-between,” she said.
She said Israel’s evacuation of Sinai proved its commitment to its treaty with Egypt. It shows the other Arab countries that one can rely on Jerusalem and “We hope that this will serve as a major incentive to bring them into the peace process,” she said.
According to Rateb, Egypt does not have the right nor the desire to represent the Palestinians in the autonomy talks but merely to create a framework which would encourage them to participate in the process determining their future and their own nationhood. If an agreement is reached, she added, it would be the task of the Palestinians and of Jordan to implement it.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
