"Glad other forces, voices in Egypt favor peace beginning with the Egyptian government": Israeli PM- 2011-09-11

"Glad other forces, voices in Egypt favor peace": Israeli PM

2011-09-11 20:26:17

JERUSALEM, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he was happy that there were "other forces" in Egypt who seek to preserve peace with Israel.

"Those who tore up the flags... deny peace... and the state," Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting, according to an official press release.

"I am pleased that there are other forces in Egypt, beginning with the Egyptian government, who want to continue preserving peace," Netanyahu said.

The prime minister's comments came after hundreds of Egyptians stormed the Israeli embassy in Cairo over the weekend, forcing the hasty evacuation of ambassador Yitzhak Levanon together with 80 diplomatic staff and their families back to Israel.

Six other Israelis, the embassy's security guards besieged by dozens of protesters who poured into the embassy building, were rescued in the wee hours of Saturday by an Egyptian commando force.

They were dressed in keffiyehs and traditional Arab dresses to conceal their identities before being rushed to Cairo International Airport, where they boarded a flight to Israel.

Netanyahu said Israel was holding discussions with Egyptian officials regarding security arrangements that would enable the Israeli ambassador and his diplomatic staff back to Cairo.

In a televised statement on Saturday night, Netanyahu said that Israel was committed to the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt, which " serves the interest of both countries."

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said at Sunday's meeting that the event in Cairo forces Israel to review the "broader picture that is forming around us: our relations with Turkey, Egypt and the Palestinians."

Barak said recent events in Egypt, as well as Turkey's decision to keep distant from Israel and the Palestinian bid to seek recognition of statehood at the United Nations, were the result of "history's deep currents which aren't within our control. We can neither determine their direction nor dramatically affect their overall outcomes."

In a related development, the Israel police stepped up security arrangements around the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv on Sunday.

"We don't want to take any chances," a police official told local Ma'ariv daily, adding that "in light of our assessment, we decided to significantly increase our presence in case some people try to carry out some kind of revenge attack."