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Photo: AFP
Al-Sisi and Abbas. 'Egyptians see Abbas as the partner, not Khaled Mashal and his gang'
Photo: AFP
Smadar Perry

Will Cairo suspend Israeli-Palestinian talks?

Analysis: With fresh exchange of accusations between Netanyahu and Abbas, how can Egyptians bring about a solution acceptable to all parties involved – in Jerusalem, in Ramallah and in Gaza?

Should we or should we not send out invitations for the resumption of the Cairo negotiations? This is the dilemma facing the Egyptians these days as they consider whether they should suspend the indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

  

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to the United Nations General Assembly was closely followed by officials at the presidential palace in Cairo and at the Egyptian intelligence headquarters. But it contained no sensational surprises as far as they are concerned.

 

Egypt is the third party in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. It is involved, it shuttles between the sides, smooths things over and is in a waiting position with the hopes of gaining some kind of international bonus.

 

It's true that all of a sudden, after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' "genocide speech" and Netanyahu's frontal assault which followed, it seemed that everyone had stopped playing by the rules. Who will turn on a green light here to talk to a delegation led by a "Holocaust denier" who has even been defined as a liar?

 

Netanyahu basically pulled out a new road map on Monday evening, when he revealed without blinking the names of the Arab capital Israel maintains open-secret relations with: Cairo, Amman, Riyadh, the emirate of Abu Dhabi "and elsewhere."

 

And after reciting the chant "I'm ready to make a historic compromise," Netanyahu dropped a bomb: First peace with Arab countries – and only when this peace is achieved, and how knows when that will happen, it will be the Palestinians' turn.

 

With the new neighborhood arrangement, with Abbas determined to appeal to the UN institutions and the International Criminal Court in The Hague against Israel, and with Netanyahu announcing that Hamas is ISIS and the other way around and holding Abbas responsible for Hamas' war crimes, Egypt is now facing a triple dilemma: How to send out invitations to the indirect talks, how to run back and forth between the scarred sides, and mainly how to lead them to a solution which all three sides – in Jerusalem, in Ramallah and in Gaza – will accept.

 

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and intelligence chief Mohamed al-Tuhami really couldn't care less about the negotiations. The war on Islamic terror and the intelligence coordination are their top priority. Their opinion about Hamas is exactly what Netanyahu says and they have no problem declaring, in closed forums at least, that Abbas delivered a "delusional and stupid speech."

 

Back to the Cairo talks: The Egyptians got lucky with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha and the series of Jewish High Holidays. Egypt is not even thinking about giving up on its status as a regional mediator. It will let the harsh words die down, and hold a round of talks in Jerusalem and Ramallah.

 

The Egyptians see Abbas as the partner, not Khaled Mashal and his gang. After the holidays, you'll see, they will set a date and send out invitations. But the main question is: What for? There is a pessimistic wind blowing in Cairo as well, and they understand very well that after all the hot air, there is no Palestinian state in the horizon.

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.01.14, 01:43
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