SHARM EL-SHEIKH, 5 June 2006 — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he was willing to resume peace talks with the Palestinians in the framework of the road map following talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak here yesterday.
At a news conference with Mubarak after their talks, Olmert promised to provide 50 million shekels’ worth of medical supplies as aid to the Palestinians, and promised to ease restrictions on Egyptian trucks carrying aid to the Palestinian territories.
Olmert also took the opportunity to convey Israel’s apology to the Egyptian people for the accidental killing of two Egyptian border policemen by Israeli troops
Mubarak also promised that “all possible recommendations will be imposed to ensure this incident does not occur again”.
This was the first meeting between the veteran Egyptian leader and Olmert since he became Israel’s prime minister a month ago. As trade minister, Olmert met Mubarak in December 2004.
The two leaders talked in private for an hour and a half at Mubarak’s palace at the resort at the tip of the Sinai desert, target of bombing attacks by extremists in recent months. Olmert said the two agreed to deepen their cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
Security was especially tight. Reporters and diplomats had to turn in their cellular telephones and portable computers on entering the site.
The warm atmosphere was apparent in the public meeting, as the two leaders smiled at each other’s phrases and shared a hug at the end of the news conference.
Olmert did not give a date for his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the first summit meeting between Israeli and Palestinian leaders since February 2005.
Olmert said his first priority now is to resume peace talks with the Palestinians, leaving his plan to unilaterally draw Israel’s border with the West Bank as a second option. Mubarak agreed that negotiations should be pursued and did not comment directly on Olmert’s unilateral plan.
Olmert said, “I really hope that our Palestinian partners will take advantage of this opportunity and will implement all their commitments so that it will be possible to proceed according to the road map.”
Mubarak refused to give his opinion over a dispute between the Hamas-led Palestinian government and Abbas over a document implicitly recognizing Israel. “I am asking our Palestinian brothers, Fatah and Hamas, to solve their problems, so that they will be able to reach an agreement,” the Egyptian leader said. “If the struggle continues, they will not be able to focus on the peace process.”
Egypt has often mediated between Israel and the Palestinians and has brokered agreements among Palestinian factions.
Responding to a question if Egypt would try to pressure Hamas in accepting Israel’s preconditions that it recognizes Israel’s right to existence and past peace deals, Mubarak said that “no country or organization accepts external pressure, so we are pursuing a policy of persuading Hamas and the rest of the Palestinians to solve their problems and to come to the negotiation table.”
Concerning the Israeli-Palestinian situation, the main reason for Olmert’s trip, the Egyptian side expressed concern over the ever deteriorating situation in the Palestinian territories since Hamas’ victory in elections earlier this year that effectively gave the group control of Parliament and Cabinet.
Hamas is branded a terrorist organization by the American and Israeli administrations, who vowed to blacklist any organization dealing with the Islamic group. The policy has effectively imposed a trade and financial aid embargo resulting in the devastation of the Palestinian economy.
The government has been unable to pay employee salaries for months as the unemployment figure rose to as high as 80 percent according to recent reports. Egypt is hopeful that Israel might eventually hand over millions of dollars from tax and duty revenues collected on the Palestinians’ behalf which represent about 70 percent of its revenues
Mubarak declared that “solving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will lead to a normalization of ties between Israel and the Arab world”, while Olmert asserted his country’s desire to “resume peace talks according to the road map, and to enforce the recommendations adopted by the Quartet.”
— With input from agencies
