FM: No chance Israel will amend Camp David Accords
Foreign minister Avigdor Liberman responds to reports that Cairo seeks to amend security annex; says "Egypt should not delude itself"; comments come in wake of rising unrest in Sinai.
By JPOST.COM STAFFAvigdor Liberman 370(photo credit: Yossi Zamir)
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said in response to reports that Cairo would seek to make changes to the security annex of the Camp David agreement that there is "no chance" that Israel would agree to the move, Israel Radio reported Sunday."There is no chance that Israel will agree to make changes to the annex of the Camp David Accords, and Egypt should not delude itself," Liberman said to Ariyeh Golan on the program "This Morning" with Israeli Radio.Israeli officials have privately voiced concern about heavy military equipment being sent to Sinai, which is subject to restrictions on the deployment of weapons under the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.Liberman added that Israel does not have a problem with the Egyptian forces in Sinai, but does have one with the terrorists fighting there.In the aftermath of the Aug. 5. attack in which 16 Egyptian personnel were killed by armed terrorists, Egypt suggested that it needs to increase it's military presence in the Sinai peninsula, in order to take control of rising regional unrest.The attack on Aug. 5, the worst since Egypt's 1973 war with its Jewish neighbor, underlined how lax policing in the region has emboldened Islamist operatives to step up attacks on Egyptian security forces and the Israeli border.Egypt and Israel are currently coordinating on Cairo's biggest security sweep in decades against terrorists in Sinai.On Friday, a 20-year-old Artillery Corps soldier was shot in the head by terrorists as he and his unit were reportedly giving water to African migrants who had arrived on the border between Israel and Egypt.Disorder has spread in Sinai since Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising, with Islamist operatives stepping up attacks on Egyptian security forces and the Israeli border. Egypt's new president, Mohamed Morsy, has vowed to restore order.
