Egypt warns Israel not to go 'too far'

By Michel Sailhan

CAIRO (AFP): The withdrawal of Egypt's ambassador to Israel is a warning to the Jewish state not to go "too far" in its military crackdown on the Palestinians, diplomats and commentators said here Wednesday.

The first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel, two decades ago, Egypt has generally taken a more moderate stance towards Israel, but is now warning that this position is not guaranteed, one western diplomat said.

Ambassador Mohammed Bassiouni's return to Cairo was a "preventive measure" designed to tell Israel: "If you go too far, things will get very bad," said the diplomat who asked not to be named.

Egypt's government Al-Ahram newspaper wrote Wednesday that the Israeli leadership had overestimated Egypt's potential for a moderate response throughout the past seven weeks of Israeli- Palestinian violence.

"The Israeli leaders have not understood that the Jewish state cannot benefit from peace dividends with the Arabs while it is waging war against the Palestinian people," the newspaper said.

Bassiouni arrived back home Wednesday, a day after being recalled in protest at Israel's massive bombardment of Gaza on Monday.

The western diplomat added that Egypt was also taking advantage of a moment when Israel's main ally, the United States, is "without an administration, between two presidents," to put as much pressure as possible on Israel.

But he said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was not in an easy position.

"There are difficulties between the Israeli army and Barak, because the army wants to hit harder," said the western envoy posted in Cairo.

"It's a question of risk management," he told AFP.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubaraks's decision to recall his ambassador -- something he has not done since 1982 when Israel invaded Lebanon -- also aims at calming public opinion at home and repositioning Egypt at the center of the Arab world, several foreign diplomats told AFP.

Thousands of students demonstrated almost daily in Egypt throughout October against Israel's military force against the Palestinians, but also against Egypt's perceived passive role in the crisis.

Demonstrators also demanded that Egypt and the rest of the Arab world go to war with the Jewish state, around the time of the Oct. 21-22 Arab summit, while the Cairo press likened Israel's leaders to the Nazis.

The outlawed Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood welcomed the withdrawal of Bassiouni on Wednesday, but called for it to be followed by further, stronger measures.

An Arab diplomat in Cairo meanwhile said Egypt had wanted to "hit three birds with one stone" by recalling its envoy.

Those "three birds" were "sounding the alarm, setting peace negotiations on a new footing, and guaranteeing the protection of the Palestinians," he said.

The Arab envoy said Egypt wanted to make the United States understand that such measures as recalling Bassiouni were needed to set the peace negotiations back on track and reintroduce a sense of balance to the negotiating table.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Mussa said peace "must be balanced and not based on the interest of Israel protected by the super-powers in order to impose subjection on the Arabs."