After two days of uncertainty, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres finally did meet with Yasser Arafat in Cairo today. He first met for two hours with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. After the hour-long session with Arafat, which Peres later said was \"very important,\" he explained that Israel has no interest in attacking the Palestinian Authority. PA sources said that the counting of seven days of no-violence might begin as soon as today, so that Israel can begin implementing the Mitchell Report next Sunday. Peres was once again greeted in Cairo by a front-page photo-montage of him wearing a Nazi uniform, with the caption, \"His return pollutes the air.\"
Likud Knesset faction leader MK Ze\'ev Boim told Arutz-7 today, \"No, this is not negotiating under fire, but rather an attempt to get the Palestinians to adhere to the Tenet agreements. I would say that these meetings are more of a warning to the PA that our patience is waning... The question seems to me not whether we will react [against Palestinian violence], but when we will react. It\'s important that we do this with as broad a consensus in the nation as possible.\"
Infrastructures Minister Avigdor Lieberman had earlier called on Peres not to visit Cairo, in light of threats by a senior Egyptian official to take sides with Syria against Israel. Egyptian official Osama el-Baz said that if Israel attacks Syria, \"Syria would not stand alone.\" Lieberman\'s party colleague Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze\'evi said today, \"Peres meets time after time with the man who gives orders to kill Jews, in \'tireless subversion\' [paraphrasing Yitzchak Rabin\'s description of Peres] to revive the wretched Oslo agreements.\" Lieberman and Ze\'evi met with Prime Minister Sharon this morning, registering their protest of the \"continuing Oslo policies.\"
Likud Knesset faction leader MK Ze\'ev Boim told Arutz-7 today, \"No, this is not negotiating under fire, but rather an attempt to get the Palestinians to adhere to the Tenet agreements. I would say that these meetings are more of a warning to the PA that our patience is waning... The question seems to me not whether we will react [against Palestinian violence], but when we will react. It\'s important that we do this with as broad a consensus in the nation as possible.\"
Infrastructures Minister Avigdor Lieberman had earlier called on Peres not to visit Cairo, in light of threats by a senior Egyptian official to take sides with Syria against Israel. Egyptian official Osama el-Baz said that if Israel attacks Syria, \"Syria would not stand alone.\" Lieberman\'s party colleague Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze\'evi said today, \"Peres meets time after time with the man who gives orders to kill Jews, in \'tireless subversion\' [paraphrasing Yitzchak Rabin\'s description of Peres] to revive the wretched Oslo agreements.\" Lieberman and Ze\'evi met with Prime Minister Sharon this morning, registering their protest of the \"continuing Oslo policies.\"