Beilin meets Egypt's intelligence chief
Suleiman tells former minister he's trying to promote joint Fatah-Hamas committee to resolve Gaza crisis; waiting to meet Netanyahu's envoy for Shalit talks
Egypt's Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman met in Cairo on Monday with former Minister Yossi Beilin and called for renewing the negotiations for Gilad Shalit's release. "I'm waiting for Hagai Hadas," Suleiman said, referring to the prime minister's special envoy for the talks.
A day after meeting Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Suleiman confirmed reports, first published on Ynet, regarding a new initiative to promote calm in the Gaza Strip. He said he was working on assembling a joint Fatah-Hamas committee that will handle the reconstruction of Gaza and will be headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Suleiman asked Beilin to relay a message to the Israeli government saying that resumption of the Shalit talks now hinges on Israel's willingness to move forward with a new and different outline. The intelligence chief added that negotiations, which were halted about six months ago, should be renewed with both parties adopting a different approach.
"I can say Suleiman sounds optimistic about the prospects of renewed negotiations," Beilin said, adding that the Egyptian official did not share with him information about the kidnapped soldier, although he asked him about it.
Beilin, who also met Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, told the two that the response of the Arab world to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policy speech last week, was erroneous.
"I can understand their mistake, because I was also annoyed by Netanyahu's hawkish tone, but in terms of content he essentially said that all previous 'red line,' apart from Jerusalem, can be bypassed," explained Beilin.
"They should have said to Netanyahu, 'Welcome to the club of two states for two people. Now let's sit down and talk.' Instead they made the mistake of interpreting Netanyahu's red lines as preconditions."
