Israel hopes Egypt, the first Arab country to make peace with the Jewish state, will work as a force of moderation at the upcoming Arab summit, a top adviser to Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Thursday.
"We hope the moderating influence of Egypt and other countries will prevail over other less balanced countries who are calling for the region to go up in flames," Danny Yatom told public radio.
Yatom praised Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who publicly rejected some Arabs' calls for war against Israel.
"There are very positive and very encouraging remarks, particularly ahead of the Arab summit," Yatom said.
In an interview Wednesday on Egyptian state television, Mubarak said, "those who talk of war should understand what it means, its dangers and its effects on their people."
"Talk of declaring war is outdated and belongs to the past ... The logic of war has become very long in the tooth. Matters can only be solved by negotiation and international pressure," he said.
Israel's acting Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami also praised Mubarak for "his rejection of war as an option and Egypt's essential role in assuring stability in the region."
"If possible, a sort of coalition should be built among countries in the region to contain the option of the Iranians and fundamentalists," he said.
Yatom also reiterated Israel's position that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is "in total control of what happens on the ground and has to choose between the paths of confrontation and of peace."
"Israel can never accept a situation of low-level violence, as one never knows what leads to the violence," he said -- JERUSALEM (AFP)
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