The Inner Cabinet agreed Wednesday to commit Israel to a definite pullout date from Taba, but linked it to agreement on the purchase price of the Avia Sonesta Hotel and “access for Israeli citizens.”
The government policy-making body made the offer to break the impasse that has developed in the dispute with Egypt over Taba.
The offer was forwarded to Egyptian Foreign Minister Esmat Abdel Meguid in Cairo by the U.S. State Department’s legal adviser, Abraham Sofaer, who has been trying to mediate the Taba talks.
President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt was quoted in Cairo as saying he could not understand why “Israel was putting obstacles in the path of bilateral relations because of ownership of the Sonesta Hotel.”
Taba, a tiny beach enclave on the Gulf of Eilat, was awarded to Egypt by international arbitration last year.
The area’s only tangible assets are the Avia Sonesta Hotel and the Rafi Nelson Vacation Village, resorts built and managed by Israelis. Their final status is under negotiation.
The Inner Cabinet decided Israel would continue the Taba talks and try to hand over sovereignty to Egypt within a specified “and brief” time period, “after an agreement on the cost of the Avia Sonesta and access for Israeli citizens.”
Cairo is impatient to take possession of Taba and has been pressing Israel to set a date before negotiations are concluded.
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