Egypt's Foreign Ministry has said that Egypt's reservations about Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman will not disrupt the Egyptian – Israeli relations and will not hamper Egypt's efforts to revive the peace process between the Palestinians and Israel. Speaking to the press yesterday, Ambassador Hossam Zaki, the spokesman of the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: "These reservations are not a major obstacle, and the situation does not depend on one single person. There are open channels of dialogue between our two countries, as demonstrated by the Israeli Prime Minister's visit".
Zaki described President Hosni Mubarak's visit to the U.S. as "very important" with regard to the method that the U.S. wanted to propose in the near future. He also noted that the visit of the Israeli Prime Minister and the Palestinian President to Washington would be essential to let the U.S. decide how to move. "The U.S. is now trying to figure out exactly how to revive the Palestinian - Israeli cause so that positive and concrete results may be achieved" he said. He pointed out that Egypt was following up on the interest and efforts of the U.S. administration and was holding consultations with it on what could be done in this regard. In response to a question by diplomatic editors on whether US ideas regarded a comprehensive peace, he affirmed that "the main focus, as we have heard, is on the Palestinians. They need a lot of work and attention, and we mustn't lose the momentum that has once been achieved as we don't want to start all over again.
"We must take advantage of all that has been achieved in the past and build on it. We must also work to revive the negotiations as soon as possible, because this is the method to achieve goals. Israel should also stop carrying out unilateral actions with regard to the settlements, Jerusalem and its identity, the checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank as well as the crossings and the siege imposed on Gaza ».
He affirmed that all these things should be seriously worked on to help pave the way for peace. Mr. Zaki was then asked whether Egypt had indications that Israel, in light of Netanyahu's visit to Egypt, would meet those requests. "As Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said, the initial indications suggest that Israel's Prime Minister intends to move in a positive way, which may be different than previously expected. "The coming days and weeks will prove whether he will really take a step in this direction" he added. Mr. Zaki then talked about the need to unify the Palestinian ranks. "Divisions obviously affect them. If this split continues, it will affect the international and even Arab support to the Palestinians".
"The Palestinian division doesn't mean there's no Palestinian partner in the peace process, as alleged by Israel" he said.
"We hope the Palestinian dialogue will resume as scheduled" he added.
He was then asked whether there were indications that the content of the letter carried by Jordan's King Abdullah II to the US administration would be taken into account by Washington in the near future. "It's difficult to say right now, the U.S. is still sorting out its cards and it's still deciding how to move. "The U.S. will not necessarily disclose all it has, and all we can say is that we hope that the ideas put forward by the Arabs to Washington will be taken into account by the U.S. We believe that these ideas will benefit the US, the region and the chances for a settlement, and that they will turn peace into a goal within our reach rather than a distant dream".
Mr. Zaki was then asked about the Egyptian efforts to achieve a truce between Hamas and Israel. He pointed out that Egypt hoped it would be possible to resume work in this regard soon and that "no step has been taken since last February in this regard".
