Report: Israel, Egypt reach understandings on Sinai
Al-Hayat report states Egypt's defense minister stressed Cairo's commitment to peace treaty in conversation with Ehud Barak
Egypt's newly-appointed Defense Minister General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stressed Cairo's commitment to the 1979 peace treaty in a telephone call with his Israeli counterpart, Ehud Barak, the London-based al-Hayat newspaper reported Friday.
Al-Sisi spoke to Barak before meeting with President Mohammed Morsi.
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The talk was held amid Israeli concerns over Egypt's decision to deploy fighter jets and tanks in the Sinai Peninsula – a move which violates the Camp David agreement.
Senior Egyptian officials told al-Hayat that al-Sisi had reassured his Israeli counterpart about the Sinai operation and confirmed that Cairo and Jerusalem had reached understandings on the matter.
Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that Israel must make sure that the peace treaty is upheld and not stay silent as troops enter Sinai.
In a closed meeting with ambassadors in Jerusalem, Lieberman said, "We must make sure that every detail is upheld, otherwise we'll find ourselves in a slippery slope as far as the peace treaty is concerned."
Also this week, an unnamed member of Egypt's Higher Military Council said that his country was not violating the peace treaty and that this has been communicated to Israel when it asked Egypt to pull its tanks out of Sinai.
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