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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 Feb. - 1 March 2000 Issue No. 470 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 24 Feb. - 1 March 2000 Issue No. 470
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Focus Heritage Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters What the future holds
By Dina EzzatThis week's state of affairs between Egypt and Israel could be aptly described as an example of the political tug-of-war that the two countries have been engaged in, more often than not, during 20 years of 'normalisation'.
Egypt chose to show high-profile support for Lebanon which has been sustaining heavy Israeli bombardment in retaliation for Lebanese resistance against Israeli occupation. A dramatic scenario followed. President Hosni Mubarak arrives in Beirut where he declares solidarity with Lebanon and support for the Lebanese resistance of Israeli occupation. Israeli officials launch yet another war of words against Egypt. Cairo shrugs its shoulders. Israel's prime minister sends his leading security adviser Danny Yatom to Cairo for a short-notice three-hour meeting with Foreign Minister Amr Moussa. Each senior official makes his line clear: Egypt says that in its capacity as the leading Arab state it cannot tolerate harsh aggression against an Arab country without showing support and that its call for Arab-Israeli peace should not at all be mistaken for a decision to overlook Israel's outrageous misbehaviour. Israel says that it cannot tolerate the security menace of the Hizbullah resistance and that it would expect Egypt to be understanding of its security concerns. Both sides affirm the need to resume the peace process on all its tracks with Cairo saying that Arab rights should not be ignored and Tel Aviv asserting that its concerns have to be taken into consideration.
"What we see now in Egyptian-Israeli relations is a sort of tug-of-war that happens once in a while and that leaves a very negative impact on the overall atmosphere in the region, particularly on Egyptian-Israeli relations; and then the Israelis complain about the 'cold peace' they have with us," commented an Egyptian diplomat who asked that his name be withheld. He added, "What the Israelis keep refusing to accept is that it is true that Egypt was the first country to make peace with Israel but that does not mean that Egypt is prepared or can afford to ignore its responsibilities as the leading Arab state, particularly when it comes to supporting the Palestinians. This has been at the core of tensions in Egyptian-Israeli relations."
This last episode of overt disagreement over Lebanon climaxed the tension that has been simmering for the past few weeks since Egypt moved to stop Israel's attempts to manipulate the peace process in its own favour. "The Israelis thought that they could play one track against the other and that we would take the viewers' seat," said one official.
But this deadlock will not necessarily last for long. Top Egyptian officials predict that sooner rather than later the peace talks would be resumed on all tracks and they expect that within five years at most peace agreements will be reached between Israel and the rest of its Arab neighbours. Then, it would be time for a new political battle to rage over what both Egypt and Israel view as a possible or acceptable regional arrangement.
"Presuming that peace is coming within the next five years, then we should be looking at the future to see if things are set for us to end half a century of Arab-Israeli conflict and turn a new page. We need to think of what next [for this region]," said Foreign Minister Moussa. According to the top Egyptian diplomat, the future set-up of the Middle East is a top priority for his ministry at this stage. Egypt, he insists, would not accept any form of marginalisation. Moreover, it will hold on to the leading role that it has been playing in this part of the world in war and peace.
Israel's first ambassador to Egypt, Eliyahu Ben-Elissar presents his credentials to President Anwar El-Sadat, 25 February 1980
Now, Egypt is closely monitoring three things: the future arrangements being suggested for the region from within and without the Middle East -- with the status of Israel's un-inspected nuclear facilities being at the heart of any proposed arrangement; the overall status of Arab inter-relations that Egypt thinks would be instrumental in deciding the future of this region; and the US perception of the roles of both Egypt and Israel.
Most recently, for example, the king of Jordan suggested a "fertile crescent" arrangement as the answer to the question on the potential regional set-up. This was not something that Egypt welcomed. Egypt has been traditionally opposed to this arrangement. Geographically and strategically, Egypt is not a part of this 'crescent'.
"His Majesty King Abdullah was not talking about the traditional fertile crescent. In fact he was referring to Libya and Saudi Arabia as part of this crescent," Jordanian Prime Minister Abdel-Raouf Al-Rawabdeh told reporters this week in Cairo. "Then this should be the 'fertile moon'," commented Moussa jokingly. He added that this is something that Egypt thinks needs to be explained.
Commented one diplomatic source: "Even if the crescent that Jordan is talking about is wide enough to include Egypt, it would have Israel in the centre, if not the leading position. This is not something that we would settle for."
Egypt could only settle for something that has 'an Arab core'. "The rationale is very simple: most of the countries of this region are Arab. Israel has a right to belong to the region but it has no right to ignore the fact that the Arab world is in the heart of the Middle East," the source said.
"Whatever is going to happen, the Arab identity will always have to be respected and maintained," commented Moussa. For this reason Egypt has recently been striving to warm up its Arab diplomacy.
Another essential policy to be maintained is "good ties with the US". "It is not in our interest to lose the US over to Israel. It is true that Israel is the number one ally of the US but it is also true that under the Netanyahu tenure Egypt managed to get the US to open its eyes to the sad regional consequences of Israel's intransigence," said the diplomatic source. "Looking at the future, we cannot ignore the US as the only superpower that is bound to have some say in the arrangements that will be formulated for this region. In fact this is something that we will be talking about to the US at length."
But between sticking to its political principles and watching over its practical interests Egypt has to tread delicately. "We cannot be more royal than the king. Once a settlement is reached, most countries of this region will be embarking on business with Israel. We have no economic interest in isolating ourselves when the entire region would be going into a de facto integration," said an informed official.
For example, Egypt and Israel will eventually cooperate in tourism. Indeed, the two countries are establishing joint teams to develop package tours that cover them both. The decision to work together came at a recent Taba-Eilat tourism conference sponsored by the Peres Centre for Peace.
So, Egypt will have to do business with Israel. However, Cairo insists that even this regional economic cooperation will have to be tuned to the wider interests of all the countries of the region. Said Moussa: "Hegemony was never accepted or tolerated, nor will it be."
