The government has refrained from any official reaction to Monday’s joint communique by King Hussein of Jordan and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt which many officials said privately was tantamount to an Egyptian repudiation of the Camp David accords.
Senior officials here cited “mixed and contradictory signals” from Cairo to explain the government’s deliberate reticence. It was evident today when, contrary to expectations, Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir avoided any reference to the joint communique in a foreign policy speech to the Knesset.
The communique, released simultaneously in Cairo and Amman, followed a scathing attack on the Camp David agreements by Hussein in his address to the Egyptian Parliament Sunday. Officials here noted, however, that Egypt’s Premier Kemal Hassan Ali said this week that the communique was not a deviation from Camp David but rather an elucidation of Egypt’s interpretation of the Camp David accords.
Hussein and Mubarak called for, among other things, an international peace conference on the Middle East under United Nations auspices, based on Security Council Resolution 242. Israel maintains such a conference would be contrary to the Camp David formula which requires direct negotiations between Israel and the Arab states.
Another mitigating factor noted by Israeli officials was the weekend interview of Egyptian Minister of State Butros Ghali in the Jewish Chronicle of London who proposed four-party talks between Israel, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians, a pattern close to that envisaged by Camp David.
On the other hand, there have been hardline statements from Mubarak’s top political aide, Osama El-Baz which have heightened concern in Jerusalem.
Shamir’s decision not to comment on the joint communique does not mean he intends to ignore it, his senior aides said. They said Shamir is studying the various texts and statements emanating from Cairo to determine whether there has been a basic shift in Egyptian policy.
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