NEW YORK - In yet another violation of the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, Egypt is refusing to return its ambassador to Israel until Israel agrees to make more one-sided concessions to Yasir Arafat.

The Israel-Egypt peace treaty requires Egypt to maintain normal diplomatic relations with Israel. Yet the Egyptian government withdrew its ambassador from Israel last year, and has refused to accept the credentials of Israel’s ambassador to Egypt, thus making it impossible for him to function. The Israeli daily Ha’aretz reports (April 15, 2001) that “the return of Cairo’s ambassador” to Israel “is conditioned on Israel accepting the recent initiative proposed by Egypt and Jordan to renew talks between Israel and the Palestinians.”

The Egyptian-Jordanian “initiative” requires Israel to withdraw the Israeli Army from additional parts of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza; refrain from encircling Palestinian Arab towns where terrorists are situated; and accept all concessions offered by previous Israeli governments as the starting point for future negotiations.

In response to Egypt’s constant violations of the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, as well as Egypt’s publication of anti-American and anti-Jewish incitement, and its preparations for war against Israel, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is urging the Bush administration to suspend America’s $2.1-billion in annual aid to Egypt. The ZOA has just released a special report, “Ten Good Reasons to Stop U.S. Aid to Egypt.” Copies are available by calling the ZOA at 212-481-1500.

The ZOA is also establishing a new task force called SANE: Stop Aid Now to Egypt, to educate the U.S. Congress, public, and media concerning the reasons to halt U.S. aid to Egypt.

In another egregious violation of the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, an Egyptian government newspaper recently revived the infamous medieval blood libel against Jews. According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), an article in the March 25, 2001, edition of the Egyptian government newspaper Al Akhbar declared: “The Talmud, the second holiest book for the Jews, determines that the matzohs of Atonement Day [sic] must be kneaded with blood from a non-Jew. The preference is for the blood of youths after raping them!!”

Referring to an article that he wrote in the same newspaper on October 20, 2000, the author stated: “Through the Al Akhbar web site, www.elakhaber.org.eg, people around the world learned that the insane myths of the Talmud are being implemented against the non-Jews in the world. I called on the [Cairo] summit to take action so that the day won’t come when big bottles will be filled with Arab blood.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 26th, 2001 and is filed under opinion.