By Stan Goodenough
Jul 30, 2007
A few days after Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit came to Jerusalem to shake hands with Israeli political leaders, he let it be known that the Arab world was waiting for a practical answer from Israel to its demand that the Jewish state facilitate the renewal of negotiations that would lead to the creation of Palestine.
"There is a feeling in Israel for the need to push the peace process forward," said Aboul Gheit. "There exists an opportunity that must be utilized."
Gheit, together with his Jordanian counterpart Abdul-Ilah Khatib, visited Israel last Wednesday on what was described as "an historic occasion," touring the Knesset and meeting with new Israeli President Shimon Peres for a laughs-and-smiles-all-round get-together.
Peres, Gheit said, had as usual been very willing to talk about pushing the "peace" process forward. The president was the primary driving force behind the "Oslo" agreements.
Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab countries that have signed peace with Israel - Egypt at Camp David in 1979 under the approving smile of President Jimmy Carter, and Jordan, on the Jordan-Israel border in 1994, under the approving smile of President Bill Clinton.