Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced last night that Egypt objects to the imposition of international observers in Israel, given Israel’s opposition to such. Mubarak expressed doubts as to the effectiveness of such observers: \"Without a true desire to end the killings, the observers can do nothing.\" He did not rule out a change of mind in the future, however, and dispatched his diplomatic advisor Osama al-Baz to Washington to discuss the matter.
Dr. Guy Bechor of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya told Arutz-7 today that Mubarak’s comments against Arafat\'s position were only somewhat surprising, \"since from the beginning of the current crisis, Egypt has spouted rhetoric in support of the Palestinian issue, but at the same time has worked to try and stabilize the situation.” Dr. Bechor feels that the Egyptians are “trying to show themselves to be impartial… to win American admiration,\" and that Israel should take advantage of this: \"We should tell the Egyptians, ‘Look, you wish to be perceived as an objective party? OK, we want to reestablish our relations with Egypt on the basis of equality; if Mubarak plans a trip in the coming month to European and Western countries, then he should be good enough to visit Israel as well...\'\"
Bechor notes that Israel can also pressure the United States to condition further support for Egypt on normalization with Israel: “The Egyptians receive $2.1 billion a year just because of their peace agreement with us. They should do something to justify at least part of that money.” Although the Egyptian government may even be interested in restraining Arafat’s PLO, \"the problem is that public opinion in Egypt is very anti-Israel and very supportive of the Palestinians... To be portrayed now in the Arab street as anti-Arafat or anti-Palestinian is a very dangerous thing right now for the Egyptians… They know that riots in Jordan may very well also reach them...\"
Bechor\'s advice to Israel is to stand firm on its demands for an improvement in the Egyptian attitude towards Israel: “National honor is not just a matter for the Egyptians and the Palestinians… we also can have a demand for national honor.”
Dr. Guy Bechor of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya told Arutz-7 today that Mubarak’s comments against Arafat\'s position were only somewhat surprising, \"since from the beginning of the current crisis, Egypt has spouted rhetoric in support of the Palestinian issue, but at the same time has worked to try and stabilize the situation.” Dr. Bechor feels that the Egyptians are “trying to show themselves to be impartial… to win American admiration,\" and that Israel should take advantage of this: \"We should tell the Egyptians, ‘Look, you wish to be perceived as an objective party? OK, we want to reestablish our relations with Egypt on the basis of equality; if Mubarak plans a trip in the coming month to European and Western countries, then he should be good enough to visit Israel as well...\'\"
Bechor notes that Israel can also pressure the United States to condition further support for Egypt on normalization with Israel: “The Egyptians receive $2.1 billion a year just because of their peace agreement with us. They should do something to justify at least part of that money.” Although the Egyptian government may even be interested in restraining Arafat’s PLO, \"the problem is that public opinion in Egypt is very anti-Israel and very supportive of the Palestinians... To be portrayed now in the Arab street as anti-Arafat or anti-Palestinian is a very dangerous thing right now for the Egyptians… They know that riots in Jordan may very well also reach them...\"
Bechor\'s advice to Israel is to stand firm on its demands for an improvement in the Egyptian attitude towards Israel: “National honor is not just a matter for the Egyptians and the Palestinians… we also can have a demand for national honor.”