Israel’s FM Rejects any Amendments to Peace Treaty with Egypt

Foreign Minister Lieberman dismissed any possibility of modifications to Israel’s 1979 peace treaty with Egypt.

By Chana Ya’ar and AFP

 

Israel has rejected the idea of any modification to its 1979 peace treaty with Egypt.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman dismissed any possibility of altering the treaty during a radio interview in Israel Sunday morning. “There is not the slightest possibility that Israel will accept the modification of the peace treaty with Israel,” he said, according to AFP. “We will not accept any modification of the Camp David Accords.

The comments came as tensions rise between Egypt and Israel, with speculation the government of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-backed President Mohammed Morsi is considering a plan to alter parts of the treaty.

Ties between the two countries are also strained over the issue of security in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, which has increasingly become a haven for terrorists who use the area as a launching ground for attacks against Israeli civilians living in the south of the country, and IDF soldiers.

On Friday, one Israeli soldier was killed and a second was critically wounded in an attempted cross-border attack by terrorists along the Egyptian-Israeli border. The IDF eliminated the three terrorists who carried out the attack, which Israel and Egypt have agreed to jointly investigate.

Israel has urged Egypt to tackle the growing lawlessness in Sinai, and Cairo has responded by boosting its military presence in the area where the attack took place.

“Egypt must fulfill its obligations in Sinai,” Lieberman said.

Cairo launched an unprecedented military operation in Sinai after terrorists killed 16 Egyptian soldiers in an attack on August 5. Israel has warned that it expects Cairo to withdraw the military reinforcements once the operation is over.

 

View original Arutz Sheva publication at: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/160204#.UF7eNVE2fmI