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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 26 Oct. - 1 Nov. 2000 Issue No. 505 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 26 Oct. - 1 Nov. 2000 Issue No. 505
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Palestine International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters The big freeze
By Dina EzzatSince the communiqué of the Arab summit was issued, Israel has been sending Egypt mixed signals. One minute it says that it is pleased with Egypt's moderating influence. The very next, it says it is disappointed that Egypt supported and even lobbied for the current Arab stance -- a position that Tel Aviv claims is "threatening."
Israeli Ambassador to Egypt Zvei Mazel visited Egypt's Foreign Ministry to convey a message of concern from his government about the outlook for bilateral Egyptian-Israeli relations in view of the Arab summit communiqué. This communiqué, Mazel said, would not help, and perhaps even undermine, cooperation between Egypt and Israel.
"We are not buying this. And we told him so," commented an Egyptian diplomat. He explained that Egyptian-Israeli relations are "in a bind" because of the confusing policies that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is adopting on the peace process. "Israel knows very well that its relations with Egypt cannot be separated from its behaviour in the peace process; so for now everything is on hold." Egypt, the diplomat added, "is committed to the full implementation of the communiqué."
Although many observers wanted the Arab summit to issue a resolution calling on all member states of the Arab League to sever relations with Israel, this was not the mood that dominated the event. And, such a stance was nowhere to be found in the final communiqué.
"In view of the setback to the peace process, Arab leaders assert their commitment to stand firm in the face of Israel's attempts to infiltrate the Arab world under any guise and to refrain from building relations with Israel," the communiqué read.
Detailing the implications of Israel's actions on the peace process the communiqué continued, "the suspension of the peace process on all bilateral fronts has led to its suspension on the multilateral track." Explaining this position further, it said that Arab leaders "decided not to resume any formal or informal activities within the multilateral framework and cease all regional economic cooperation with Israel within this framework." The resumption and the scope of the activities, the communiqué stipulates, "is dependent on the realisation of concrete achievements towards the accomplishment of a comprehensive and just peace on all tracks."
Egyptian diplomats point out that reducing cooperation with Israel is a measure that they have taken before when the peace process entered a rocky phase. And, when the process picked up again, cooperation was increased proportionally. "But now, in view of the summit communiqué, Egypt will no longer be dealing with things on a case by case basis," said one diplomatic source.
The scope of Egypt's actions to reduce cooperation with Israel still needs to be determined. It is obvious, for example, that Egypt will not participate in or host the Middle East and North Africa Regional Cooperation Conference which was tentatively scheduled for this fall. However, it remains unclear how Egypt will proceed regarding its obligation to export oil to Israel which was stipulated in the 1979 peace treaty. Cairo also needs to decide how it will deal with Egyptian-Israeli cooperation in the area of agriculture.
As Egypt considers its relations with Israel, the question of its ties with Jordan inevitably arises. Like Egypt, Jordan, too, has a peace treaty with Israel which governs its bilateral relations with its neighbour. Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians have "Qualified Industrial Zones" that export to the US market under the terms of the US-Israeli free trade agreement. Added to this, the Hashemite Kingdom is currently negotiating a free trade agreement with the US under the understanding that such an agreement would evolve into a Jordanian-Israeli-US free trade agreement.
Another open question at this stage is whether Cairo will find it plausible, or even appropriate, to launch a new diplomatic initiative to revive the peace process. "Although Israel says it is taking a 'time out,' it is up to Israel or the US, which is supposed to be the 'honest broker' in the peace process, to make a move to save peace. Egypt has already done a great deal," commented an Egyptian diplomat.
At a press conference held after the summit wrapped up, Foreign Minister Amr Moussa shrugged off all Israeli reactions to the communiqué.
Immediately following the issuing of the Arab summit communiqué, a spokesman for the Israeli government said that his country is pleased that wisdom and moderation prevailed in that communiqué. Barak even made a point of thanking President Hosni Mubarak for his "moderating" input. But a few hours later, Israel characterised the communiqué as "threatening" and Barak announced that he was planning to form an emergency national unity government.
"It is not the concern [of the Arab countries] whether Israel is pleased with this communiqué," said Moussa. Underlining Egypt's stance he added, "We agreed on certain steps... and we will implement them."
Related stories:
Intifada in focus
States of emergency
Producing the body (count)
Tempered anger at the summit
Composing the consensus
The electronic Intifada
Horror in your sitting room
Variations on a theme
The big freeze
Solidarity days
'A valid fear'
Meet the press
The earth speaks Arabic
Also see Focus on Intifada 19 - 25 October 2000© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
