In Sharm El-Sheikh, Dina Ezzat notes tensions contained but rising between Egypt and Israel Upfront but not promising was the way Egyptian officials qualified talks between President Hosni Mubarak and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh Monday afternoon. In the words of one source that spoke on condition of anonymity, "it is not possible to say that the talks were good, but they were not bad either." According to a pre-drafted concise statement that Mubarak read to the press during a joint briefing, Egypt stressed what could be expected: the Israeli government has to make the lives of Palestinians under occupation easier; Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations have to be resumed "on the two-state solution basis"; Israeli construction of illegal settlements on Palestinian territories has to be suspended; and "the 30-year old Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty proves that peace is not impossible." In his response, in Hebrew, Netanyahu also kept to the expected. The Israeli prime minister made no reference to the two-state solution, made no reference to a timeframe to conclude peace talks with the Palestinians (much less on the Syrian or Lebanese tracks), made no commitment to ease tight sanctions imposed on Gaza, and above all showed no interest in considering the Arab and international demand for his government to suspend illegal settlement building and construction in the occupied Palestinian territories. No questions from the press were allowed. And judging by the uptight look on the face of both Mubarak and Netanyahu (despite the formal words of welcome that the president exchanged with his Israeli guest), there was apparent unease in the pressroom. When Mubarak invited Netanyahu for talks, the Egyptian president had no illusions about what to expect from this Israeli prime minister who declared during his electoral campaign -- and after his election -- that a peaceful settlement for the Arab-Israeli struggle was not a priority, or even an objective. Mubarak knows Netanyahu's schemes well. "The Israeli prime minister is not making a secret of his intentions and we are not unaware of what he is up to," commented an Egyptian diplomat who asked for his name to be withheld. He added: "However, we are not also blind to the fact that Netanyahu has considerable support in Israel and that we have to deal with him -- if only to make bad things bearable, somehow." In Sharm El-Sheikh, Netanyahu argued the predictable Israeli call for a collective "war on terror". He insisted that Israeli- Arab peace could only be reached when the "forces of extremism" are contained. He even said, according to one source, that the Israeli people could not support a peace deal with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for as long as Palestinian leaders fail to confront Hamas firmly. During the briefing Netanyahu said that the Jewish people -- in reference to Israel -- is keen on cementing relations with the Arab world and Muslim countries and that the struggle in the region is not one between the followers of different religions but between "moderates and extremists". Egyptian officials who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly before and after the Mubarak-Netanyahu talks were not shy in their pessimism. Netanyahu, they know, wants to incite Egypt and the rest of the Arab world against Iran. "He can see that we are not comfortable with Iran and he wants to benefit from this," said one official. He added: "We are not happy with Iran, but we are not stupid to want Israel to expand its military supremacy further. We are really -- and those are not just public statements -- opposed to any military action against Iran." Egypt, diplomats say, wants Iran to be contained but it wants this to be done by the US through political and economic pressure, not through an Israeli military strike against Iran that would induce public sympathy with Egypt's nascent regional rival. Moreover, Egypt believes that one way to contain Iran is to strip it of the chance to use the Palestinian cause to gain support in the Arab world, especially among the Arab masses that know that Iran is supporting Hamas and Hizbullah in their fight against Israel. Egyptian officials may listen to what Netanyahu has to say on Iran; they might even exchange a few low-level security tips here and there; they might call on the Americans to slow down the pace of their dialogue with Iran and insist that the US imposes tough benchmarks on Tehran for the sustainability of the dialogue -- but as one senior Egyptian official said in a firm tone, "We are not in the business of joining an Israeli scheme to attack Iran." Meanwhile, Egyptian officials say that it was "important" for President Mubarak to meet Netanyahu before the scheduled meetings of both leaders with US President Barack Obama in the coming days and before the expected visit of Obama to Egypt. "We are currently working with the Arab states, with Turkey, some European friends and the US to draft a call for a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace deal that President Obama may adopt and sponsor, and it was important to talk to the Israelis if only to know what they have in mind and what they might respond to." When he received Netanyahu in Sharm El-Sheikh on Monday, Mubarak was sending a clear message to the new American administration that he is willing to work for Middle East peace no matter how daunting this task has become. He was also sending a message to the Israeli government and people of where Egypt stands on the settlement of the Arab-Israeli struggle, bilateral relations between Cairo and Tel Aviv and regional security -- including relations and confrontation with Iran. Mubarak told Israeli TV following the meeting with Netanyahu that Egypt is determined to pursue the two-state solution. For Mubarak, it is irrelevant whether Netanyahu likes this formula or not. "There is an international acknowledgment of the two-state solution. If [the Israelis] want to go against this and turn things upside down, insisting on one state [Israel only] then you will be wasting your time," Mubarak said. He added that short of the two-state solution the cycle of violence in the Middle East will continue. "Do you want your people to live in endless conflict?" he added. It is only through a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian cause, Mubarak stated, that bilateral relations between Egypt and Israel -- and for that matter between Israel and the rest of the Arab world -- could progress. "You need to consider the Arab peace initiative," the president told Israeli TV. Mubarak, meanwhile, argued that Israel's issue with Iran is radically different from Egypt's concerns. Egypt, he said, is concerned with Iran's "regional hegemony". The Israelis, he added, are worried of Iran's nuclear capabilities. "But if we talk of nuclear capabilities, we should talk of [Israel's] as well," the president stressed.
