Egypt plays central role in Israeli-Palestinian peace effort
Egypt does not hide the fact that it is deeply troubled by some Israeli actions regarding the Palestinians, yet Israeli leaders continue to make regular journeys to Cairo for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his second visit to Mubarak since coming into office in April.
The meeting focused on a variety of issues, according to the spokesmen of the two leaders. Among them were the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, bilateral issues and what Netanyahu's office dubbed "regional matters," which is another way of saying of the Iran issue.
The Israelis are fully aware of the central role Egypt and Mubarak play in trying to forge a Palestinian-Israel peace deal.
INTRA-PALESTINIAN PEACEMAKER
Not only is Mubarak on the center stage when it comes to talks between Israelis and Palestinians, but Cairo is also the focal point for efforts to create a rapprochement between the leading Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas.
The Palestinians, Israelis and Americans are fully aware that without agreement between the warring factions it will be virtually impossible to create a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.
"Without a united front by the Palestinians, we cannot really talk about a peace process. We need a legitimate representative of the Palestinians," Gamal Soltan, the director of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo told Xinhua on Monday.
Currently, Fatah dominates the Palestinian National Authority, which controls the West Bank, while Hamas holds the reins in Gaza.
One of Mubarak's closest confidantes, the intelligence chief Oman Suleiman, has been trying to bring the sides together, thus far unsuccessfully, since violence erupted between them in 2007.
SPEEDING UP THE PROCESS
When it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian parley, or the lack thereof, Mubarak has become a close partner of the U.S. President Barack Obama. The leaders have reportedly spent considerable time trying to produce a fresh peace proposal that will get the Israelis and Palestinians talking to one another.
The fruits of their labors are expected to be made public within the next month or so.
However, even before that Mubarak and Obama have a deadline to meet, and it was with that in mind that Netanyahu and Mubarak held talks on Sunday. The Americans and Egyptians want to see a meeting between Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in New Yorkat some point this month.
In order for that session to definitely go ahead, the Israelis first have to agree to a settlement freeze. Mubarak's key demand from Netanyahu on Sunday was that Israel immediately cease all construction of new homes and facilities in Jewish towns and villages in the West Bank. Mubarak stressed that must include any activity that Israel says is the result of natural growth.
Israel insists it be allowed to expand settlement activities for the purposes of natural growth and also says it is within its rights to build in the eastern half of Jerusalem, which is deemed occupied territory by the international community.
"Despite different positions on various issues there is an understanding that cooperation between Jerusalem and Cairo is in both sides' interests," said Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev on Monday.
The message from Cairo following the Mubarak-Netanyahu meeting was far less conciliatory.
Mubarak's spokesman Suleiman Awad told reporters, the president had told his guest he was firmly opposed to any attempt to "Judaize Jerusalem."
WORRY FROM ISRAELIS?
Comments like these along with fierce attacks on Israel in the government-backed media in Egypt often leave Israelis asking whether Egypt can ever be trusted when it comes to peace talks.
So anti-Israeli is the sentiment in the Egyptian media that when then Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was in Egypt in 2004 to launch a joint enterprise zone, journalists decided to stage a street protest against the visit instead of reporting the story.
When Regev was asked by Xinhua whether Mubarak could be an honest broker, he chose a deferential path.
"We take the relationship with Egypt very seriously. Our bilateral relationship is the cornerstone of regional peace and stability and President Mubarak has experience and wisdom that very few leaders in the region have," said Regev.
However, Soltan was more up-front about the lack of impartiality on Mubarak's part, though he says it would be unthinkable for Egypt to be truly balanced when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"The balance between the Palestinians and Israelis is working dramatically against the Palestinians. It's not the right thing to expect Egypt to maintain equal distance between the two sides when they are not really equal," Soltan said.
The Egyptians and Americans have largely adopted a similar position regarding the steps they believe Israel must take in order for the peace process to get back on track.
With this in mind, Netanyahu will meet U.S. special envoy George Mitchell on Tuesday to try to reach a breakthrough on the settlements issue. The meeting was originally scheduled for Monday, but a domestic tragedy in Israel led to a 24-hour delay.
Should Mitchell receive a commitment from Israel to a settlement freeze, Egypt could then use its clout in the Arab world to try to gain goodwill gestures from moderate Arab states to show Israel they are serious about a normalization of relations with the Jewish state.
Cairo's standing amongst the Arab nations is such that it could bring guarantees to the table that could settle Israeli nerves about pushing ahead with a final-status deal with the Palestinians, Soltan said.