An expert on Islam and the Arab world indicated last night that Israel should not expect too much from the normalization of relations with Egypt which will be formally instituted later this month. Addressing a symposium on the normalization and its limitations, Prof. Emanuel Sivan of the Hebrew University, stressed the latter. He also warned that Israel was not keeping abreast of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s major propaganda campaign to present itself as a more flexible element in the Middle East dispute, especially to the American public.
Sivan said that while the Israeli media has done a creditable job following the development of Israeli-Egyptian relations and reporting news of the occupied territories, Israeli journalists have not kept up with the decisive shifts now taking place in the operating methods of the PLO.
The symposium was conducted on the occasion of the award of the second Ted Lurie Prize in journalism, presented this year to Haaretz military correspondent Zeev Schiff for his series on the attitude of Egyptian military leaders and other officials toward the peace settlement with Israel. The award is named for the late Ted Lurie, editor of the Jerusalem Past from 1955-1974.
EGYPTIAN ATTITUDES ANALYZED
Speaking of normalization, Sivan said many Egyptians are apprehensive over a deluge of Israeli tourists. He said deals between enterprising Israelis and Egyptian businessmen are not what Egypt is really interested in. That country needs Western capital and that is something Israel cannot offer it. As for know-how, Sivan pointed out that many Egyptians claim that Israeli know-how is transplanted from the West, so why obtain it from the Israelis when it can be obtained from the original source?
Another speaker, Meir Yaari, who is Kol Israel Radio’s Arab affairs commentator, said Egyptians think of normalization in terms of relations with Israel, not with Zionism, which is a very important distinction. He said several leading Egyptian journalists still boycott Israel and refuse to set foot on Israeli soil.
These are a few of the “facts of life” Israelis must beat in mind as the day approaches when Israel and Egypt exchange ambassadors, he said. Under the timetable incorporated in the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, the two countries are to establish diplomatic relations on Jan. 26 and to exchange ambassadors on Feb. 26.
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