In a statement on Tuesday from Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian leader said that threats from the newly elected Hamas party to destroy Israel should not be taken at face value, and that the group had showed signs of flexibility in recent days regarding its stance towards its neighbor.
"We also said in the past that we would throw Israel into the sea," referring to Egypt's former stance against its neighbor, Israel.
"And where are you now," Mubarak added, according to the AP and Haaretz.
The Egyptian leader reportedly implied that a peace agreement between Israel and Hamas was a possibility in the future.
Mubarak had met with Israel's Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss strategies to deal with the political changes surrounding Hamas' rise to power in the Palestinian territories.
Mofaz told Israeli reporters that the Egyptian president had in fact asked Hamas to accept Israel's conditions for dialogue, which include agreeing to Israel's right to exist, renouncing terror, and abiding by previous peace agreements. Mubarak implied that Hamas would eventually agree to the conditions.
In an interview broadcast on Israeli radio, however, Mubarak later said that it was unnecessary for Egypt to demand that Hamas revise its position on Israel, since there was little chance that the group would comply.
"I won't come and tell them to recognize Israel. It (Hamas) will say no. The question needs time and effort from them and from you at the same time," Mubarak said, implying that greater flexibility and patience was needed on both sides to reach an eventual agreement.
"Don't think that overnight it (Hamas) will say 'We will deal with Israel' and that's that. That's impossible. There is hope and we must not be pessimistic," he added.
Mubarak stressed the importance of negotiations as a means to end violence between Israel and the Palestinians, adding that withholding funding from the Palestinians would only exacerbate the problem.
"The whole thing will become horrible extremism and we have to think logically ... The Europeans understand this and we are talking to the Americans. When Hamas forms a government, we'll see the situation and say what we will do," he added.
Meanwhile, Jordan's Jordan’s King Abdullah II also urged the international community not to withhold money from the Palestinians, saying that Germany and the European Union should "continue to support the Palestinians to put bring and end to the economic crisis it faces,” according to the AFP.
He also stated that Middle East peace will be largely influenced by the outcome of Israeli elections in March as well as the strategies of Hamas in the new Palestinian government.
King Abdullah made the comments on Tuesday while meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in the Jordanian royal palace.
“The future of the Middle East peace process depends largely on the results of the Israeli elections next month and the announcement of the Palestinian governmental program,” he said.
© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
