Moving Palestinians and Israelis towards a talking phase is a top priority for Egyptian diplomacy. Dina Ezzat reports Egypt is becoming impatient with the current impasse in Palestinian-Israeli communications and the impact thereof on the situation in the Gaza Strip, an immediate border concern to Cairo. For weeks, security and diplomatic efforts exerted by Cairo, sometimes at the highest level, have been searching for a breakthrough in the current deadlock but Egyptian sources say there is little to report on this front. "Efforts to release the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in return for the release of a few hundred Palestinian prisoners are still being exerted and messages are still being sent between Gaza and Tel Aviv but the end point is still being pursued," commented an informed source. For Egyptian officials, the eventual but still elusive completion of the swap of Shalit for Palestinian prisoners is an essential breakthrough for which Cairo has engaged all possible parties, not least the charismatic and influential Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal. Still, in the words of another Egyptian source, "this is an on-going process and it is a difficult one." Despite the lack of results by Egyptian efforts, Cairo has decided to pursue a parallel track: encourage Palestinians and Israelis to re-launch direct and frequent talks. "The objective is to break the deadlock that may last long and explore avenues that might facilitate efforts aimed at implementing the swap of Shalit for Palestinian prisoners," the source said. Cairo has been conveying a message to Tel Aviv, through high-level phone calls and ambassadorial contacts, about the need to "move forward" and "prevent the further radicalisation of the Palestinian street that is inevitable as a result of the increasing suffering in Gaza following Israeli-imposed sanctions." This effort, sources say, has been supported by several European players. During their recent talks in the Middle East both British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos pushed the same line. And during a brief Sunday summit in Amman President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah issued a statement stressing the need "to promptly revive the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis and the need to get both parties back to the negotiating table as soon as possible... away from the concept of unilateral solutions that have proven a failure." In press statements accorded to journalists following the Mubarak-Abdullah meeting, Suleiman Awad, Mubarak's spokesman, said "both leaders agreed on the need for a serious effort that could open the door to a direct approach towards the Palestinian issue, the crucial issue in the Middle East." Informed sources tell Al-Ahram Weekly that Cairo is not in the business of proposing a peace initiative independent of the Arab League's coordinated effort to get the UN Security Council to provide direct sponsorship to a fresh process of talks with the objective of resolving all pending issues of the Arab- Israeli conflict, especially that of Palestine and the normalisation of Arab-Israeli relations. "This collective Arab effort is also an Egyptian effort," said one source. However, sources admit that Cairo's sense of realism indicates a measure of scepticism over the ability of the Arabs to prompt serious action from the UN Security Council especially in view of clear US and Israeli reluctance on the matter. "We have to say that this effort is a long one but that the situation in Gaza cannot wait. We need to work on a complementary effort," one source said. This effort, sources say, is coordinated primarily with Jordan. Its aim is to get Palestinians and Israelis to re-engage one another with a possible launching of this process in a Sharm El-Sheikh gathering, may be later this month, that could bring together Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas -- after the announcement of the national unity government -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, President Mubarak and King Abdullah. "The thing that we all need to think of and to work for is the conceptualisation of the end game -- namely a Palestinian state," Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said in Cairo on Sunday. He said if there is an agreement on a Palestinian state, "its borders and parameters, then we can take it from there and through negotiations try to achieve this aim." In a recent interview with Time magazine, Abdullah indicated similar orientation by suggesting the need to "jump ahead to something tangible. We want to get to the point where people want to sign on the dotted line. We want to move to a two-state solution." Sources say Israel has not been particularly receptive to Egypt's proposal to get the meeting to help re-start direct Palestinian-Israeli talks with the objective of reaching the end game -- establishing an independent and viable Palestinian state. However, they add, the Israeli government is being open about the potential of the meeting "even while Shalit is still a hostage" in order to contemplate confidence-building steps. "There are no magical quick fixes," said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev. Judging by the recent pattern of behaviour of Israeli officials, Egyptian sources said Cairo does not believe it has reached an impasse. "In the beginning Israel was totally opposed to the concept of swapping Shalit for Palestinian prisoners. Then it made a conditional agreement that a trade be limited to women and children. Then that changed and Israel accepted the inclusion of a few other prisoners," said one informed source. The source added that improving the internal Palestinian situation between Hamas and Fatah "and certainly within Fatah, will help a great deal with the Egyptian efforts" that aim to move beyond a limited prisoner swap "to a potentially more holistic package that could include an end to the launching of Qassam rockets by Hamas activists against Israeli targets and a parallel end of Israeli strikes against Gaza." Egyptian sources say "the situation is tough but mediation is continuing." The latest details of such mediation were discussed this week during telephone conversations between Mubarak and Abbas. The wider regional context of the Arab-Israeli conflict will be discussed today during a meeting between Mubarak and visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Al-Siniora.
