Israel Matzav

NINE YEARS since last visit by an Egyptian foreign minister

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukhry is in Israel this afternoon to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu to discuss - what else - how to advance the 'peace process' with the 'Palestinians.' It is the first visit to Israel by an Egyptian Foreign Minister in NINE YEARS.

Netanyahu said he would meet with Shoukry twice on Sunday, once in the afternoon and again in the evening. Netanyahu's special envoy Isaac Molho is responsible with coordinating Shoukry's visit, the premier said.

"The visit today is important in many ways," Netanyahu said at the start of Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting. "It shows the change in relations between Israel and Egypt, including Sissi's important call to advance the peace process [both] with the Palestinians and with Arab states.

Two weeks ago Shoukry met Palestinian President Abbas in Ramallah.

For the record, the last time an Egyptian President visited Israel was when Hosni Mubarak came to Yitzchak Rabin's funeral... in 1995.

None of this is surprising. Here's how the average Egyptian thinks of peace with Israel. I took it from the Egyptain blog, Sandmonkey.

But then I rememebrd that we- the majority of us anyway- don't want peace with Israel, and are not interested in any real dialogue with them. We weren't then and we are not now. The Entire peace process has always been about getting the land back, not establishing better relations. Even when we do get the land back, it's not enough. People in Egypt lament daily the Camp David treaty that prevents us from fighting.

In Gaza they never stopped trying to attack Israel. In Lebanon Hezbollah continued attacking even after the Israeli withdrawel. And the people- the majority of the arab population- support it. Very few of us are really interested in having any lasting Peace or co-existance. I mean, if our left is asking for war, what do you think the rest of the population is thinking?

I think that the Israeli want peace with us because they don't want their lives disrupted. They don't want to have the IDF soldiers fighting in Gaza, rockets coming into their towns from Hamas or having to go to wars against Hezbollah to get their soldiers back. I think they want peace because they want their peace of mind. They view us as if we were a headache. We view them as if they are a cancer.

All of which leads the average Israeli to conclude that peace with the Arabs isn't really worth the price in land that we'd have to pay  - there won't be real peace.

Labels: Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt, Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, Hosni Mubarak, Middle East peace process, Sandmonkey

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:43 PM