The Mubarak-Olmert summit was the first in many steps needed for the peace process to regain its strength, writes Magda El-Ghitany The first-ever meeting between President Hosni Mubarak and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, on Sunday in Sharm El-Sheikh, was preceded by high hopes for relaunching the peace process. This was especially true after Mubarak was to have met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas the next day. Press reports had claimed that the two bilateral meetings would pave the way for a three-way summit between Mubarak, Abbas and Olmert. But soon after Mubarak and Olmert finished their talks, all such hopes temporarily evaporated when it was revealed that the Palestinian and Israeli leaders will be meeting, but at the end of June. Olmert told a joint news conference with Mubarak that he would meet Abbas at the end of the month to re-launch peace talks, but did not say when that might be. Mubarak said he discussed with Olmert "the need to resume peace negotiations in order to reach a final settlement, which would bring peace to the Palestinians and the Israelis." Olmert described Mubarak as "a true partner in the effort to bring peace to our region," and talked about cementing economic and security relations between Cairo and Tel Aviv. "I intend to strengthen ties with Egypt, the largest Arab country in the region," stated Olmert, emphasising the need for Egypt and Israel to cooperate to "confront international terrorism and fundamentalism". He added that Israel was keen on expanding the QIZ agreement and trade with Egypt. But a critical bilateral issue imposed itself on the talks -- the killing of two Egyptian policemen by Israeli soldiers on the border two days earlier. The shooting of Mohamed Badawi Siddiq and Ayman El-Sayed Abdel-Hamid on Friday was shrouded in mystery with accusations flying back and forth across the border. Olmert's opening statement to reporters in Sharm El-Sheikh expressed Israel's "deep regret" over the killings, pledging that procedures will be taken to ensure such an incident "would never happen again". A joint commission will be formed to investigate "the accident", as he put it. Israel's sorrow over the deaths was in marked contrast to the anger felt on the Egyptian street. "Such incidents are normal occurrences on borders as hot as the Egyptian-Israeli one," Amin Howeidi, former minister of defence and chief of General Intelligence, told Al-Ahram Weekly. "The fact that a joint commission will investigate the episode is proof that the Israeli side has begun to realise its need for a partner in many things," Howeidi added, explaining that in previous incidents Israel would investigate unilaterally. But "this has obviously changed." Howeidi described the Mubarak-Olmert talks as "a good start, paving the way for hope and a genuine relaunch of the peace process. It is simply a beginning." He added it was unlikely that too many details were discussed during the talks because summits usually deal with broad, non-specific principles. "Problems lie in the details which are never tackled at summits due to limitations on time," he said. Strategic and military expert Salah Selim agreed that the meeting was successful on some points. Selim cited Olmert's delay rather than cancellation of his convergence plan, his readiness to meet Abbas, Israel's recognition of Abbas as a peace partner, and Israeli acceptance of the roadmap as examples of the positive results of Sunday's summit. But, Selim continued, there was still no real solution to the aid embargo imposed on the Palestinians, and Olmert did not specify a date to meet Abbas. Other points missed at the summit, according to Selim, included Israel's obligation to the Sharm El-Sheikh understandings of 2005, whereby it is committed to withdrawing its troops to pre-Intifada positions of September 2000. Cairo should have also taken Tel Aviv to task for its targeted assassinations of leading Palestinian figures, the attacks on the Gaza Strip, and ongoing settlement building. Howeidi said he believed Egypt should not depict conflicts among Palestinian ranks as the major obstacle in the way of the peace process, and should remind Israel it is the aggressor. "The focus should have remained on the fact that Israeli actions and the occupation are the root causes of the current Palestinian situation," he said. Selim believes that despite Olmert's attempt to divert attention from the Palestinian issue and focus more on bilateral relations, Cairo stayed the course, as demonstrated when Egypt insisted on postponing discussions of Israel's convergence plan until Israeli-Palestinian talks resume on all issues, including this one. Selim believes that "a stronger, more coordinated Arab stand in support of the Palestinians is the only way to re-launch a genuine peace process."
