'Egyptian Foreign Ministry sabotaging relations'

WikiLeaks document from US Embassy in Tel Aviv has National Security Advisor Uzi Arad saying senior Egyptian officials won't talk with Foreign Minister Lieberman, harming ties between two nations

Reuters | Published: 11.30.10, 17:18

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry is damaging the Egyptian-Israeli relations, said National Security Advisor Uzi Arad, according to a document from the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, found among the records released recently by WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks: Full Ynetnews coverage

Arad also said, as per the document, that Egyptian leaders refuse to speak to the Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

According to the document, Arad defined the relationship between the two nations as relatively good – as good as it was when the late Yitzhak Rabin was the prime minister. He also said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak have a reliable channel of communication.

However, Arad also noted that Cairo and Jerusalem do not see eye to eye on certain issues, including what is happening in the Gaza Strip and in the Palestinian Authority.

'Mubarak doesn't trust own foreign minister'

The document revealed a December 2009 conversation between Arad and US Under Secretary of State for International Security Affairs Ellen Tauscher, in which Egypt's request to monitor Israel's nuclear program was discussed. Arad said that this kind of request isn't helpful, and shifts the focus away from Iran.

Arad also discussed Egypt relations with the head of the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau, Amos Gilad. Arad told Gilad that Egyptian leaders understand that Iran poses the biggest threat to the Middle East, and don’t want Iran to become a regional superpower. However, he expressed concern about what will happen once Mubarak retires, and said that Mubarak doesn't trust his foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul-Gheit.

The Egyptian government was not spared exposure on WikiLeaks, either. In another document, which was sent from Cairo, American diplomats quote senior Egyptian officials close to Mubarak describing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as "elegant and charming," but as someone who never keeps his promises.