Egyptian peace with Israel holds, 

say officials on both sides

BY HELEN KENNEDY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Monday, February 14th 2011, 4:00 AM

Tibbon/Pool

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convenes the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

Morenatti/AP

An Egyptian protester shouts slogans during a demonstration near Tahrir Square on Sunday.

• 
  

Egyptian and Israeli officials assured nervous observers on Sunday that the peace treaty between their two nations will not be rocked by revolution.

"It is a main element in terms of our foreign policy," Sameh Shoukry, the Egyptian ambassador to Washington, told ABC's "This Week."

The treaty is also key economic policy: As a U.S. investment in regional stability, Egypt receives $1.3 billion in military aid annually from Washington under the 1979 treaty. "We have derived a peace dividend from the treaty," Shoukry said. "The treaty has been beneficial to Egypt over the last 30 years or more."

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he wasn't worried. "I don't think that the relationship between Israel and Egypt is under any risk," Barak said on ABC.

Barak, however, cautioned Egypt against rushing democracy, saying the opposition Muslim Brotherhood is "ready to jump" on elections.

"Sooner than later, the only group which is coherent, focused, ready to kill and be killed, if necessary, takes power. That should be avoided in Egypt," he said.

The Muslim Brotherhood had virtually no role in the secular pro-democracy revolution and says it won't field a presidential candidate.

Barak said he doesn't believe any claims from radical Muslim movements.

U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen was visiting Israel for talks apparently aimed at reassuring leaders there about the unrest in Egypt.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian revolution was shaking the West Bank, where Reuters reported the entire Palestinian Authority cabinet is to quit today. The authority is in turmoil and has called for elections in September, but rival group Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, said it would not take part.

(nydailynews.com)
======================================================