American Jewish leaders yesterday told President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt that “no possible progress toward peace” could be made in the Middle East unless Israel were involved in direct talks with its Arab neighbors.
Mubarak was urged “to demonstrate to his fellow Arab leaders the advantages of peace with Israel by giving genuine content to that peace — by returning his Ambassador to Israel and by fulfilling the commitment to trade, tourism and cultural exchanges contained in the treaty between Egypt and Israel.”
“Only if the Arab world recognizes that peace with Israel can bring political and economic dividends will the circle of peace grow wider,” said Kenneth Bialkin, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
Bialkin led a group of some 20 leaders of American Jewish organizations in an hour long meeting with the Egyptian leader at the Madison Hotel. Mubarak yesterday began a three day official visit to Washington which includes meetings with President Reagan and other senior Administration officials.
MUBARAK CONFIDENT OF PROGRESS
Bialkin, addressing reporters after the meeting, described as “spirited and friendly,” said the Egyptian leader repeated his commitment to peace with Israel and voiced confidence that progress would be made in three areas so that he could return his Ambassador to Israel and promote trade and tourism with Israel.
The three areas referred to by Mubarak were: a complete Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon; some movement on the Palestinian problem; and a resolution of the dispute over Taba, the 800-square meter enclave south of Eilat that is claimed by both Egypt and Israel.
Mubarak, according to Bialkin, expressed satisfaction at Israel’s decision to withdraw from Lebanon and understanding that the Palestinian issue posed great difficulties for any Israeli government. But Bialkin reported that Mubarak appeared troubled by the lingering dispute over Taba. Mubarak said that Egyptian public opinion was not yet ready for the return of its Ambassador to Israel, withdrawn following the massacre of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in September, 1982. In turn, the Jewish leaders urged Mubarak to “exercise genuine leadership” by helping to mold public opinion in his country to understand the advantages of normal relations with Israel.
EGYPT COMMITTED TO PEACE TREATY
Mubarak insisted that the absence of the Egyptian envoy from Israel did not mean an absence of contact and dialogue with the Jewish State, Bialkin reported. “Mubarak expressed confidence that his envoy to Israel would be returned and that trade, tourism and cultural exchanges would follow,” said Bialkin, adding, “He kept telling us to ‘be patient,’ and he repeated that Egypt ‘respects its commitments to Israel 100 percent,’ and never thinks of going back on the peace treaty.”
Mubarak also told the delegation that he recognized there could be no solution to the Arab-Israel conflict unless both sides sat down with each other and talked. “Mubarak justified his proposals for a Jordanian-Palestinian-American meeting as a way of making a ‘psychological’ breaking toward peace. We told him this idea was a non-starter and would serve to delay the peace process, which could only advance when Israel met directly with Jordan and a non-PLO delegation of Palestinian Arabs.”
DISAPPOINTED BY 2 MUBARAK COMMENTS
The delegation of Jewish leaders was especially disappointed, according to Bialkin, by two statements by Mubarak. “One was his defense of (PLO chief) Yasir Arafat as a ‘moderate,’ a description we told him we could not accept,” Bialkin said.
“The other was his rather off-hand response to a question we raised on what Egyptian children read in their textbooks and learned at school about Israel and the Jewish people. Mr. Mubarak dismissed the question as one that would take care of itself once normal relations with Israel were restored. Our response was that a better understanding” of Israel and “the people who live there was essential to such a peace,” Bialkin said.
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