Jerusalem, Nov 18: The chairman of the Israeli
Parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, Yuval
Steinitz, today rejected Cairo's mediation in the search for
an Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire, labelling Egypt a hostile
factor to Israel and to the peace process.
"What's happening is particularly serious because a
factor hostile to Israel has entered the Palestinian domain,
and it is equally hostile, in my opinion, to the peace process
and that is Israel," said Steinitz, a deputy from the
right-wing Likud Party of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
His comments against Egypt, with which Israel has a
peace treaty, were made on Israeli Public Radio.
Egypt became the first Arab nation to sign a peace treaty
with Israel in 1979.
The comments from the chairman of the Knesset's very
influential Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee came the
day after Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman held
talks with Palestinian leaders as part of efforts to broker a
ceasefire with Israel.
Bureau Report
