Palestine Recognized by Egypt : Only Arab Nation to Accept Israel Backs PLO Decree

Egypt, in a decision that is likely to lower the temperature of its already chilly relations with Israel, on Sunday formally recognized the newly declared state of Palestine in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

An official statement distributed by the state-run Middle East News Agency ended several days of intense speculation and confusing signals over how Egypt would handle the question of recognizing the new Palestinian state, whose “independence” was proclaimed by the Palestine National Council, the highest decision-making body of the Palestine Liberation Organization, at a meeting in Algiers last week.

“Egypt hereby affirms its recognition of the Palestinian independent state according to the points contained in the political statement issued by the PNC,” the statement said.

Retroactive to Nov. 15

Issued to dispel what it acknowledged were “doubts . . . in some quarters” about Egypt’s position regarding the issue, the statement said that formal recognition was being extended retroactively to Nov. 15, the day on which the PNC issued its independence declaration.

It denied that the delay in extending recognition reflects any ambivalence on Egypt’s part toward the independence declaration, which it described as a “constructive step” that should “serve the cause of peace and stability in the region.”

Senior Egyptian officials have said in private, however, that they were concerned initially about the possibility of negative repercussions in Israel, given what is seen here as a disturbing drift toward extremism in Israel after the electoral victory this month of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s right-wing Likud Party.

Careful Assessment

“The delay was not due to any lack of enthusiasm or backing on our part,” said one official, who noted that President Hosni Mubarak had already declared Egypt’s “full support” for the independence declaration. “It was due to the need to carefully assess the situation and the reactions elsewhere, particularly in Israel and the United States,” he said.

One concern voiced here is the effect that Egyptian recognition for the Palestinian state will have on relations with Israel. More than 30 countries, mostly from the Arab world and the East Bloc, have already recognized the still-unborn Palestinian state. But Egypt’s recognition carries more weight because it is the only Arab country to have signed a peace treaty and established diplomatic relations with Israel.

In Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Sunday that he regrets Egypt’s decision. “I regret it very much,” he told reporters. Peres said he wanted to study the Egyptian statement before making further comment.

Israeli officials had said earlier that they would consider Egyptian recognition of the Palestinian state to be a violation of the 1978 Camp David accords, which stipulate that the status of the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip should be decided through negotiations.

Rejecting this view, the senior Egyptian official said he hopes relations with Israel will not be affected by the decision but conceded that they could be. However, he insisted that for Egypt, the question was not whether to recognize the new Palestinian state, but when.

‘Strategy for Peace’

“For us, it was a question of timing, and of how best to revive the peace process. In our view, the point is not merely to ceremonially declare Palestinian independence, but to formulate a strategy for peace, a strategy that will help move the other parties, the United States and Israel, onto the right track,” he said.

The Palestine National Council, the Egyptian statement noted, coupled its declaration of independence to a new PLO political manifesto that, for the first time, implicitly recognized Israel’s right to exist by accepting U.N. Resolutions 242 and 338 as the basis for the international peace conference sought by moderate Arab states. The manifesto also renounced terrorism and indicated that, once born, the new Palestinian state would seek to confederate itself with Jordan.

The Egyptian statement made it clear that recognition of the new state was being extended by Cairo only on the basis of the points contained in the political manifesto.

‘Peace Offensive’

Along with Jordan, Egypt hopes to incorporate the new PLO position into what another senior official said will be a “peace offensive” aimed at persuading the administration of President-elect George Bush to put pressure on Israel to agree to attend a U.N.-sponsored peace conference.

PLO leader Yasser Arafat is expected to visit Cairo in the coming days to discuss the Arab strategy further, one Egyptian official said.

Jordan’s King Hussein, meanwhile, affirmed his support for the Palestinian position adopted last week and accused the United States and Israel of blocking progress toward a Middle East settlement.

“I believe the PLO has gone as far as it was asked to go and has contributed its share for progress toward a just and comprehensive peace,” the monarch said Sunday on the CBS television program “Face the Nation.”

“I believe that if there is any intransigence--and there is indeed--it is in the Israeli position that hasn’t changed and, up to now, the United States’ position,” Hussein said.

U.S. Denunciation

American officials last week dismissed the Palestinian declaration, saying it was ambiguous in its recognition of Israel’s right to exist and did not explicitly renounce terror as a political instrument.

Hussein said he hopes that the incoming Bush Administration will adopt a more flexible stance and give its blessing to an international peace conference aimed at creating a Palestinian state.

“I hope very, very much indeed that the future will see the United States actively engaged with the Soviet Union, with other permanent members of the (U.N.) Security Council, with all parties to the conflict . . . trying to resolve it.”

Hussein added: “I am optimistic. I am not pessimistic at all. I believe that the problem is a priority item, (it) will be in the coming period, and it has to be resolved.”

Times staff writer John M. Broder, in Washington, contributed to this story.