Sunday, March 22, 2009

Egypt: We May Boycott Lieberman


Gil Ronen and David Lev Egypt: We May Boycott Lieberman

Egypt has demanded that Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our Home) chairman Avigdor Lieberman apologize for remarks he made about the country in the past – or Cairo will boycott him when he is named Foreign Minister in the Netanyahu government. According to a report on Channel 2 TV on Saturday night, the Egyptian ambassador to Israel made the demand at a meeting Thursday with Prime Minister-elect Binyamin Netanyahu and Likud MK Yuval Steinitz. . The meeting was convened at extremely short notice, at the request of the ambassador, Yasser Rida. Rida told Netanyahu and Steinitz that there were three things that Egyptians held sacred – the Pyramids, the Aswan Dam, and Hosni Mubarak – and Lieberman had insulted two of them.

In the past Lieberman has threatened that Israel could bomb the Aswan Dam if Egypt joins a war against Israel. Bombing the Aswan Dam would cause flooding – and death – on a massive scale.

'Let him go to hell'

Last year, Lieberman criticized Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for refusing to visit Israel and said – “If he wants to talk to us, let him come here. If he doesn’t want to come, let him go to hell.”

According to the report, Yisrael Beiteinu MK Danny Ayalon was already working with the Egyptians on an acceptable apology. A spokesperson for Netanyahu said that "there is an ongoing connection – through a number of channels – between Avigdor Lieberman and Egypt, in order to ensure continued good relations between our two countries."

Rida did not deny the report but said: “I express deep sorrow over any attempt to inject Egypt’s name and the name of its ambassador into Israel’s internal matters.”

Reports earlier this week said that Egypt is considering boycotting a Foreign Office event Wednesday marking the 30 year anniversary of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. This, too, is meant by the Egyptians as an act of protest at the appointment of Lieberman to the Foreign Ministry. However, Egypt has reportedly not made a final decision on the matter.

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