WASHINGTON: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to make good on his vow to forge peace with the Palestinians and reiterated a plea for Israel to halt settlement activity.
On the eve of Thursday’s first direct Israeli-Palestinian talks in 20 months in Washington, Mubarak said the Israelis should "seize the current opportunity" and "not let it slip through your fingers."
He was speaking at a press conference at the White House to launch the negotiations alongside US President Barack Obama, Netanyahu, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah II of Jordan.
"I urge Israel to reach out to the Arab hand extended for peace," said Mubarak. "Israel should totally halt settlement activity until the peace process comes to a conclusion."
The Palestinians say that a renewal of settlement activities after Sept.26, when a 10-month partial moratorium expires, would end the negotiations. The settlements house about 500,000 people on lands occupied by Israel in 1967.
Netanyahu faces pressure from his Likud party to continue settlement construction.
The Egyptian leader noted that he had met Netanyahu many times and said he looked forward to him making good on his repeated assertions that he wanted to forge a "long awaited peace" which Israelis yearned for.
Mubarak had a bilateral meeting earlier in the day with Obama, as the US president geared up his bold attempt to secure a historic Middle East peace deal within a year.
Mubarak’s "main message" had been that Obama should be prepared to step directly into the dialogue between the two sides, his spokesman Soliman Awaad said.
"President Mubarak told President Obama that had (the late Egyptian president Anwar) Sadat and (the late Israeli prime minister) Menachem Begin been left all alone in Camp David, they would have never reached any peace agreement," Awaad said, referring to the landmark 1978 negotiations.
"This time also, the two parties should not be left all alone, otherwise there will be big stumbling blocks," he said.
"What is really needed is for the United States to step in, remain committed, remain engaged and lend a helping hand to the two parties in order to help bridge the gaps in the positions, sort the differences."
Mubarak wrote in Wednesday’s edition of The New York Times that Egypt, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, is prepared to continue mediating between Abbas’ Fatah party in the West Bank and the Islamist Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, which rejects talks with Israel.
"The Palestinians cannot make peace with a house divided. If Gaza is excluded from the framework of peace, it will remain a source of conflict, undermining any final settlement," he wrote.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) shakes hands with President Mubarak (R) at the conclusion of remarks following meetings with US President Barak Obama on restarting Middle East peace talks. (AFP Photo / Chris Kleponis)
Mubarak added that Arab states should make gestures to allay Israeli concerns.
"In the interim both sides must show that this dream (of a Palestinian state) is within reach. Arab nations should continue to demonstrate the seriousness of their peace initiative with steps that address the hopes and concerns of ordinary Israelis."
Washington has demanded that Arab countries take steps to normalize relations with Israel to build confidence for the negotiations. Only two Arab countries, Egypt and Jordan, have diplomatic relations with Israel.
Mubarak supported previous calls by Abbas to station international troops in a Palestinian state, writing: "I recognize that Israel has legitimate security needs, needs that can be reconciled with the Palestinians’ just demand for a complete withdrawal from occupied territory."
