Egyptian diplomacy seems willing to walk the extra mile to secure an Israeli commitment to peace requirements, Dina Ezzat writes Cairo officials may not yet have recovered from the public scepticism that greeted the recent thaw in Egyptian-Israeli relations, whose first fruits included an exchange of prisoners and a new economic cooperation agreement. However, Egyptian diplomacy seems determined to move ahead with plans to upgrade communications with Israel. According to Egyptian officials, the aim is to secure a plan of action from Israel to coordinate its withdrawal from Gaza with the Palestinian Authority, and to facilitate the upcoming Palestinian presidential elections. "This is our short-term objective," commented one official. "Our long-term objective is to convince Israel that the time has come for it to suspend all military activities, especially aggressive attacks such as those seen over the past few days, and to start getting ready to resume first security talks with the Palestinians, then peace talks." In line with this policy, Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman arrived in Israel yesterday for talks with top Israeli officials about a series of steps to be taken by Israel during the early days of next year in preparation for the Palestinian elections. While in Tel Aviv, Suleiman was also scheduled to discuss a short, but very important list, of bilateral issues that have a direct bearing on Cairo's willingness to play an active role in facilitating Israeli-Palestinian relations in the days and weeks ahead. Suleiman was seeking final Israeli approval for a plan to deploy some 750 Egyptian soldiers in the buffer zone on the borders between Egypt and Israel. "This matter is essentially agreed upon, but we have to discuss the details of how these troops will be armed," commented one Egyptian official speaking on condition of anonymity. "If we are going to have troops there, then we want to make sure that they are adequately armed so that they can carry out their mission of securing stability on the borders. Ensuring their success is in the interests of both Israel and the Palestinians, as much as it is in the interest of Egypt. So I think that there will have to be an agreement on the matter." This issue was also the subject of Egyptian-Israeli talks in Cairo this week. A visiting senior Israeli army official conveyed to his Egyptian counterparts Tel Aviv's hesitation to allow troops deployed in the buffer zone to be equipped with anti-rocket tanks as Egypt wishes. The situation on the Egyptian-Israeli borders has been marked by tension over the past few weeks, since the killing of three border policemen while on duty by Israeli fire. Since that incident, Egyptian sources admit that at least one other Egyptian citizen has been killed on the borders and some four others wounded by accidental Israeli fire. Suleiman's trip to Tel Aviv should allow Cairo to make clear to top Israeli officials, among other things, that Egypt is not interested in accepting financial compensation for the killing of the three Egyptian policemen, but that it does want a written apology. It also wants Israel to make an effort to release certain Egyptian prisoners in Israeli jails who have recently appealed to the Egyptian government to help them regain their freedom. This may well be the easiest part of Suleiman's mission, however. More problematic elements of his trip include securing an Israeli agreement to suspend, even if only temporarily, its aggressive military operations in the Palestinian territories. "These operations have been a cause for great embarrassment for many parties, including Palestinian presidential candidate Mahmoud Abbas, who has been calling on his people to hold back from exercising their right to violent resistance to the occupation, only to be faced with Israeli military aggression against innocent persons," said one Egyptian source. He added that the recent Israeli attack on the Palestinian territories has also embarrassed Egypt, especially since it came against a backdrop of official Egyptian support for Mahmoud Abbas's call for the demilitarisation of the Intifada and overwhelming public disappointment at home over the release of convicted Israeli spy Azzam Azzam who had served only half of his 15-year term. "What we are telling Israeli officials is that we believe that there is a real opportunity to relaunch peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians," the source added, "and that it is in the interest of Israel to encourage Abbas, and to encourage us as well, to move ahead and seize this opportunity before it is gone forever." Egyptian diplomats acknowledge that even if Israel promises to suspend its attacks, these promises will have to be put to the test. Cairo is hopeful that the Israeli government will demonstrate enough realism at this difficult point. If it fails to do so, it will be very difficult for the Palestinian authorities and for Cairo, or any other capital for that matter, to talk about making peace with Israel. "They told us they wanted to pursue peace with the Palestinians and that they wanted to be a normal country in the region," said the source. "What we have to tell them today is that if they want this to happen they should stop the firing, the bombing and the killing." Parallel to Suleiman's visit, Egyptian diplomacy is engaged in a dialogue with the Israeli government over its decision to send a new head of mission to its Embassy in Cairo with an eye capitalising on the new ambiance of Egyptian-Israeli détente. Reconciliatory steps are also under consideration through which Israel might encourage Egypt to go ahead with its plan to send an ambassador to Tel Aviv -- thus filling a post that has been left vacant since Cairo pulled out its ambassador in 2000. Meanwhile, Cairo is working closely with the Palestinians to arrange for a new round of inter-faction dialogue. The aim of the dialogue would be to build a Palestinian consensus to suspend all militant activities so as to give Abbas the best possible chance to get Israel to start withdrawing from the occupied territories.
