Egyptian Security of State for Foreign Affairs, Butros Ghali is responsible for sabotaging Israeli efforts to renew diplomatic ties with African states, Premier Menachem Begin charged in his letter of response to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, according to unofficial reports here. Thus, Begin declared, Ghali violated the terms of the Camp David accords and the Israel-Egypt peace treaty.
(The Jerusalem Post reported today that Begin wrote to Sadat that everything was negotiable, including Jerusalem, but that Israel was exercising a legitimate right of sovereignty over Jerusalem when the Knesset last week enacted the Jerusalem law. There was no confirmation to this report.)
In his response, Begin complained that the Egyptian press has engaged lately in name-calling, noting that the media in Egypt are not free of government influence. Declarations that the Knesset decision on Jerusalem is null and void, are themselves null and void, the Premier wrote. The same holds true regarding the Jewish settlements in the administered territories, he wrote. “Not one settlement will be dismantled. The settlements are legal and an integral part of our national security.”
According to reports from Cairo, Begin’s response would be delivered only tomorrow by Israeli Ambassador Eliahu Ben Elissar to Egyptian Vice President Hosni Mubarak. Sadat is on a religious retreat in the Sinai.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
