Israel has delivered what sources here termed a “sharp protest” to Egypt over Cairo’s conduct following the Israel air raid on the Iraqi nuclear reactor on June 7. In a letter from Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir to Egypt’s Foreign Minister Kamal Hassan Ali, Israel complained forcefully and bitterly at Egypt’s vehemently hostile criticism of the Israeli attack. The letter, which was understood to have been written in close coordination with Premier Menachem Begin himself, was delivered today by Ambassador Moshe Sasson.
Shamir cited particularly Egypt’s leading role in the Organization Of African Unity (OAU) condemnation of Israel, issued by the OAU summit in Nairobi last month. Cairo’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Boutros Ghali, made a speech at that summit which Israel regarded as unwarrantedly strident and hostile.
Shamir also cited Egypt’s behavior at the United Nation’s and at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, where Egyptian delegates echoed Israel’s most hardlined foes in their attacks on the Israeli air raid.
The letter also dwelt on the vehement — and in some cases virulent — reactions in the Egyptian press to Israel’s action. Shamir sought to remind Ali that the peace treaty between the two states, in Article V of Annex III, requires that “the parties shall seek to foster mutual understanding and tolerance and will, accordingly, abstain from hostile propaganda against each other.”
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