The recent spate of visits to Egypt by Israeli Labour Party members is irritating their Likud government partners. Soha Abdelaty reports The Egyptian government blames Israeli policies, aggression and occupation for the cycle of violence between the Palestinians and Israelis. And Egyptian officials have not been shy about expressing their view of the current situation. The only way out of this impasse, say Egyptian officials, is for Ariel Sharon's Likud-led government to change its strategy in dealing with the Palestinians. This week, however, members of Sharon's government accused Cairo of not only trying to change Israeli policies, but actually trying to change the Israeli government. "Unfortunately, the President of Egypt and other high officials have not been treating Israel properly lately," Cabinet Secretary Gideon Saar told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday. "They have made improper statements which have strayed from the diplomatic path, in an effort to interfere in the Israeli political system." Saar was referring to remarks President Hosni Mubarak made last week to Israeli reporters after meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. "Sharon has no political plan. Here and there I hear ideas, and thoughts, but nothing comes out of these ideas except an escalation in violence at the expense of both sides." Egyptian criticism of Sharon is nothing new. Several months after Sharon came to power in 2001, Mubarak began to make public his disappointment with Sharon's "non-peace" strategy. While speaking to the Israeli media last week, Mubarak recalled contacts with Sharon soon after he came to power: "[Sharon] sent me three or four messages, and said 'I have a plan for peace.' The Arab world was excited and told me, 'give him a chance.' Sharon promised me, 'Within 15 days I will present my plan.' I waited. But instead of a plan, there was shooting and violence. I understood immediately: Sharon does not trust [Palestinian President Yasser] Arafat. But I also know Arafat has no trust in Sharon. I proposed they meet, and with American encouragement I invited them to Sharm El-Sheikh. But Sharon ignored the invitation, and the situation worsened." The situation between Cairo and Tel Aviv has reached a new level of tension after several members of the opposing Labour Party visited Egypt recently. Prominent Labour Party members such as Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (who is also the leader of the Labour Party), Peres, and Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg have all recently visited Egypt. Saar's comments came on the same day that Labour Knesset Member Haim Ramon was in Cairo. Ramon, the chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee and a candidate for Labour Party leadership, held talks with Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher. Saar issued a warning to these Labour Party leaders, saying: "Israeli officials who were invited to Egypt have to take into account that accepting the invitation is improper, when it is a rejection of the elected government [and] a personal attack on government policy." Egypt, however, dismissed these accusations. "The Labour Party is part of the Israeli government," Maher told reporters after meeting with Ramon. He pointed out that the Labour officials who have come to Egypt are all part of the current government, one way or another, adding that there have also been contacts with Sharon. "We are not meddling in domestic issues... we want to push the peace process, establish peace, which is in the interests of the Israeli people, and put an end to the cycle of violence caused by the occupation. Therefore we will not consider any unfounded accusations," Maher noted. He also said that Egypt is determined to continue down this road, undeterred. "If the Israelis are criticising Israelis, that is none of our business. Our door is open to whoever wants to come and talk to us about peace, and listen to our opinions on ways to achieve peace," Maher told Al-Ahram Weekly. "If they see that they do not agree with these meetings, they should shut the door from their side," he added. Ramon agreed. "I am sorry about [Saar's] statement. I am here as the Chairman of the [Knesset's] Foreign Relations and Defence Committee. I happen to be in the Labour Party," he said. "When he [Sharon] goes abroad he's the prime minister, but he's also a member of the Likud Party. What I am doing is... trying to put an end to the violence and contributing to the peace between us and the Palestinians," he added. He also said that he would like to see Sharon come to Egypt and exchange views with the Egyptian government. Ramon told the Weekly that by visiting Cairo, he was trying to improve the "bilateral relationship between Israel and Egypt. If it improved, the situation would be better." Although Cairo says it is not trying to interfere in Israel's domestic politics, the fact that it welcomes Labour Party members while keeping contacts with Likud members to a bare minimum indicates, at the very least, that it is more comfortable listening to and exchanging views with Labour. When asked on Saturday whether Egypt would be willing to receive Likud Party members, Maher told reporters: "We will look into each case individually." Cairo is unlikely to be disappointed if Sharon loses the election to the Labour Party. "There has to be a wise policy and statesmen who have the correct reading of [Israeli] public opinion," said Maher. He added that the Israeli people are fed-up with the current situation and want to put an end to it, "but cannot find an alternative path proposed by any of the politicians". Egypt is also encouraged by the fact that it has traditionally been able to deal better with the Labour Party. Egyptian officials often reminisce about the days of Yitzhak Rabin, who they said kept his word -- unlike Sharon who they find very hard to negotiate with. Ahead of Ben-Eliezer's visit to Egypt, Mubarak had dispatched Chief of Intelligence Omar Suleiman to Israel to consult with Sharon, Ben Eliezer and Peres. Suleiman found Sharon to be intransigent, "very hard-line and uncompromising", according to Mubarak. On the other hand, Labour Party members claim that they value Egypt's role and would like to enhance relations with the first Arab state to make peace with their country. "In spite of all of the problems between us and Egypt during the last 25 years, peace has still prevailed," Ramon told the Weekly. "This relationship with the most important Arab country... is something very constructive, not destructive," Ramon added.
