Egypt Denounced for Reneging Its Treaty Obligations Toward Israel

Premier Yitzhak Shamir denounced Egypt in the Knesset today for reneging on its treaty obligations toward Israel. He said Egypt’s behavior called into question the credibility of its agreements and claimed Israel had tried repeatedly to improve relations with Cairo but was rebuffed.

Shamir spoke in reply to an opposition motion presented by Labor Party Secretary General Haim Barlev who charged that the hardline policies of the Likud government made it incapable of fostering normal relations with Egypt and urged early elections to effect a change.

Shamir’s speech was his harshest criticism of Egypt since he took office as Prime Minister last year. He delivered it on the eve of the departure for Cairo of Minister of Commerce and Industry Gideon Patt.

Patt will fly to the Egyptian capital tomorrow for three days of talks with officials in connection with an international trade fair to be held there. Israeli sources said that Patt hoped to hold trade talks as well, aimed at revitalizing the moribund commercial relations between the two countries.

Although sources at the Commerce Ministry were quoted as saying the visit could signal a turn for the better in relations between Israel and Egypt, other sources close to Shamir played down its importance after the Premier’s remarks in the Knesset.

They noted that Tourism Minister Avraham Sharir and Energy Minister Yitzhak Modai had visited Cairo during the past year and there was a “fitful dialogue” between the directors general of the two foreign ministries. But such occasional high level contacts failed to thaw the “cold peace,” those sources said.

CITES CAIRO’S FAILURE TO RETURN ITS ENVOY TO ISRAEL

Shamir seized upon Egypt’s failure to return its Ambassador to Israel after he was called home for “consultations” when Israel invaded Lebanon in June, 1982. Egypt “has no intention at all of returning its Ambassador and achieving really normal relations,” Shamir charged. He said that was the “clear conclusion” to be drawn from the many “excuses” offered by the Egyptians to explain their envoy’s continued absence.

“When Egyptian representatives are asked, they cite the Lebanon war, or sometimes they cite the Taba issue, or sometimes they cite the Palestinian problem, saying that after we solve it they will send back the ambassador,” Shamir said. “These are excuses” and Israel will “draw the conclusions,” he added.

According to Shamir, “The Egyptian government’s behavior impairs the credibility of the agreements and commitments which it undertook upon itself in the past. It impairs too, the credibility of agreements and commitments which Egypt or any other government in this region may take upon itself in the future.”

Barlev blamed the “miserable Lebanon war” for fouling Israeli-Egyptian relations. He urged the government to withdraw Israeli forces from Lebanon after ensuring security arrangements and to conduct a “balanced policy” on the West Bank. He said this would mean ending the establishment of Jewish settlements in heavily Arab populated areas, a course long advocated by the Labor Party.

Barlev also called on the government to invite King Hussein of Jordan to peace talks “without preconditions.” Such moves, he maintained, would salvage the peace treaty with Egypt. Barlev’s motion was referred to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee by mutual consent of the government and the opposition.