Mubarak Urges Arabs to Give Israel Time

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Thursday that the Arab world must give Israel’s new government enough time to chart its own path to peace, but he warned that if progress is delayed for too long, it will provoke “terrorism against everybody--Israelis, Americans, Egyptians--everybody.”

Interviewed at the conclusion of a four-day visit here, Mubarak said that Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s new prime minister, seems committed to peace despite his uncompromising campaign rhetoric.

But the Egyptian leader expressed concern that Netanyahu will be unable to control hard-liners in his own Cabinet, such as Ariel Sharon and Binyamin Begin, who want a dramatic increase in Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank.

The Arab-Israeli peace process dominated Mubarak’s talks here with President Clinton, Secretary of State Warren Christopher and other top U.S. officials, even though Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty 17 years ago.

For Mubarak, it was a chance to assert a high-profile role for Egypt as a bridge between Israel and the rest of the Arab world.

Interviewed in an elaborate sitting room of Blair House, the U.S. government guest quarters across from the White House, Mubarak supported Clinton’s call for the world to withhold judgment on Netanyahu’s government.

But unlike Clinton, Mubarak added a warning: Netanyahu must show results in the peace process or risk touching off a new wave of terrorism.

Mubarak recounted his talks with Netanyahu last month: “He said he honors all of the agreements and commitments of the previous government. He is meeting some problems. He needs much more time to arrange everything.

“I would like him just to implement the agreements [with the Palestinians] that have already been signed--to withdraw Israeli troops, for example, from Hebron,” Mubarak said. “We have discussed this with him, and he says he has another procedure to implement the agreement. I told him, ‘All right, any procedure [will do], but we have to implement the agreement,’ and he agreed with that.”

Mubarak was sharply critical of an Israeli government plan, announced earlier this week, to build two major highways through the West Bank and to encourage expansion of Jewish settlements in disputed territory.

But he avoided direct criticism of Netanyahu, asserting instead that Sharon, the right-wing former general now heading a newly created infrastructure ministry, was responsible for the proposal.