Egypt Curbs Ties To Israel

Amid mounting Arab anger at Israeli attacks against the Palestinians, Egypt's cabinet decided Wednesday to cut direct contacts with Israel's government while leaving diplomatic channels open.

"Government-to-government contacts are stopped. Diplomatic channels remain open," a senior Egyptian official said.

"The cabinet issued a decree that all contacts between the two governments would stop, short of diplomatic channels which will serve the Palestinian question and the issue of peace in the region," he said.

Another official emphasized that the move did not affect diplomatic representation in the two countries. Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab states to have signed peace treaties with Israel and both have maintained diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.

It was not immediately clear what sort of contacts would be ended under the decision. Despite their 1979 peace treaty, Egyptian-Israeli ties are cool and they have long had few contacts beyond diplomatic ones. Economic exchanges are limited and cultural ones nearly nonexistent.

Israeli Embassy spokesman Madav Cohen said the embassy would have no comment until it had been officially informed of the move.

Egypt's relations with Israel have come under increasing strain since Palestinians began an uprising against Israeli occupation in September 2000. In recent days there have been angry demonstrations here calling for expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and severing of ties.

Egypt, the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, withdrew its own ambassador from Tel Aviv in November 2000 to protest Israel's handling of the Palestinian uprising. Israel has kept its ambassador in Cairo.

The coolness between the two nations extends well beyond government-to-government relations.

Egypt's professional syndicates have expelled members for visiting Israel. Egyptian actors and singers have vehemently denounced claims they visited Israel as malicious rumors meant to damage their reputation.

Israel's former ambassador to Egypt, has Zvi Mazel, bemoaned the lost opportunities for investment between the neighboring nations when he left his post last year. There has been some cooperation in agriculture, with Israeli technology, fertilizers and pesticides benefiting Egypt's farm sector.

With the exception of young Israelis who venture just south of the border to the Sinai beach resorts — a rare occurrence in the past 18 months — there are few exchanges at the individual level.