Jimmy Carter to Haaretz: Recent Cairo protests threaten Israel-Egypt peace treaty

[Jefferson23]

Former U.S. president says Camp David Accords he helped forge contained a basis for Palestinian autonomy, and if that doesn't exist, it's due to Israel's stubbornness.

By Akiva Eldar


More than three decades after he fostered the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, this week Jimmy Carter watched a young Egyptian take down Israel's flag from the embassy in Cairo. Assuming there are no last-minute surprises, on September 20 - three days after the 33rd anniversary of the Camp David Accords - America's 39th president will raise a glass to toast the UN General Assembly's recognition of a Palestinian state based on Israel's 1967 borders.

In his last book, "White House Diary" (2010 ), the former president upbraids his Democratic successors, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, for their inaction as Israel accelerated settlement construction. In an earlier book, "Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid," Carter proposed a framework resembling the formula outlined by Obama in his speech in May: Israel's withdrawal to the 1967 borders with territory swaps, a Palestinian right of return only to the state of Palestine, and financial compensation for the refugees.

SNIP* What did you feel when you heard the news about the incident in Sinai , and saw the young Egyptian take down the flag from Israel's embassy in Cairo?

"I am very concerned at the demonstration of violence and the breakdown in the peace agreement with Egypt that has been threatened in last days, but I believe that leaderships in both Israel and in Egypt want to see the peace treaty preserved.

"I think it's an indication of a change of attitude among the leadership in Egypt. There were two different agreements that I negotiated 30 years ago: the first was the Camp David Accords that agreed on autonomy for the Palestinians, withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian land, and the enforcement of UN Resolution 242, which has been largely ignored by the Israelis until now.

"I think because of Mubarak's willingness to maintain the peace agreement with Israel , the Palestinian issue was not treated as though it was important. But the people of Egypt have always believed that the treatment of Palestinians was more important than Mubarak did, and now they are putting pressure on the new government to demand that Israel accept its responsibilities under the Camp David Accords."

in full: http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/jimmy-carter-to-haaretz-recent-cairo-protests-threaten-israel-egypt-peace-treaty-1.380815