The Inner Cabinet’s approval Wednesday night of a draft agreement with Egypt increased prospects that a summit meeting will take place soon between Israeli Premier Shimon Peres and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The Inner Cabinet voted 8-2 to accept an agreement hammered out over several months by delegations from the two countries. It would send the dispute between the two nations over ownership of Taba, a 25 acre strip of Sinai beachfront, to international arbitration.
At the end of the eight-hour Inner Cabinet session, Peres telephoned Mubarak to inform him of the approval. “We shall see you soon,” he said. Mubarak was reported to respond, “Inshallah” (God Willing).
According to Arab press reports, Egypt already has designated Izzat Abdul Latif, former Ambassador to Sudan, as its new Ambassador to Israel. Egypt withdrew its envoy to Tel Aviv in 1982 during Israel’s war in Lebanon.
Peres told Mubarak during the phone call that he, Peres, was in the same room with Cabinet Minister Ezer Weizman; Avraham Tamir, Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office who co-headed the Taba negotiations; and Mohammad Basyouni, the Egyptian Charge d’Affaires. Mubarak responded, “A good collection of people.” He then asked how Weizman was, and Peres replied, “He sits like a pilot seeking the target.” Peres sent a letter to Mubarak Thursday summing up the status of the issues between the two countries.
POSSIBILITY OF GOVERNMENT CRISIS LOOMED
The possibility of a government crisis loomed over the Inner Cabinet session Wednesday, but eventually only two Likud Ministers — Ariel Sharon and Moshe Arens — voted against the draft document, but not because they objected to it in principle.
Sharon wanted stronger linkage to the normalization of relations between the two countries. Arens said the wording of the questions posed to the arbitrators did not give Israel a good prospect to win the arbitration.
In Herzliyah, the legal and military negotiating teams of the Taba talks reached an agreement on the procedure of preparing the map of the area that will be attached to the arbitration document. The issue of the three international arbitrators was left open, as the Egyptian delegation returned home for the Id Al Adha holiday. The talks are to resume next week.
Mohammad Abu-Ziad, the Secretary of the Egyptian delegation to the Herzliyah talks, died early Thursday morning at the Migdal Daniel Hotel of a heart attack. He was 34. Attempts by a medical crew to revive him failed. Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir sent a cable of condolences Thursday to the head of the Egyptian delegation.
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