Egypt’s Aid Sought in Swaying Arab Peers

An Israeli envoy asked Egypt on Thursday to help calm the violent clashes with Palestinians and steer the upcoming Arab summit away from hard-liners looking to punish and isolate the Jewish state.

Ambassador Zvi Mazel’s request served to underscore Israel’s fear of a more united and hard-line Arab policy toward it. Though the changes so far have been incremental, there are signs that Arab leaders are increasingly influenced by grass-roots support of the Palestinian uprising and anger at the rise to power of right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

In fact, as Arab leaders prepare for their summit next week in Amman, the Jordanian capital, they have already responded to the public anger, promising to give $40 million a month in aid directly to the Palestinian Authority. Four months ago, at their last meeting in Cairo, they refused to give the money directly to the government of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and ultimately released only a fraction of the total $1 billion promised at that time.

“I think it is necessary to say it loudly: The situation is really explosive,” Mazel said in an interview Thursday after delivering his message to Foreign Ministry officials. “The Palestinians are continuing with their violence. You know our position is they have to cool down before we start to negotiate with them. We think in such a situation it is very important for the summit to come out with as much as possible a moderate resolution.”

But Egyptian officials rejected Mazel’s premise, insisting that the violence is a result of frustration spawned by Israel’s economic blockade and security restrictions on Palestinian territories.

“His thesis of security before negotiating is not practical, pragmatic or logical,” said a senior Egyptian official who requested anonymity. “This is a cover-up for a new policy they want to impose on everyone. This new policy calls for an end of violence to achieve security--before negotiating.”

With this as the backdrop, leaders will converge next week in what will be the first regularly scheduled Arab League summit since the gatherings were first held in 1964. In the past, meetings were called in response to crises.

This time, officials had hoped to underscore Arab unity--an elusive goal--and to focus on regional economic needs. But reality has again intruded, and organizers are faced with an agenda topped by such issues as the Palestinian uprising and relations with Iraq.

As a result, despite the desire to take steps toward creating a regional economic bloc similar to the European Union, the summit is likely to be another exercise in crisis management.

Iraq has managed to help set the agenda of the summit, even while the issue that most concerns Baghdad will probably not be voted on by the full gathering. League officials said they will discuss United Nations sanctions against Iraq but won’t vote on whether to ignore them.

There is a growing consensus here and in many other nations that the sanctions have unduly hurt Iraq’s civilian population. The officials said one reason for dodging the issue is opposition from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait--which have clashed militarily with Iraq in the past--to disregarding the sanctions.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his inner circle reportedly have decided not to push for the vote. As long as sanctions remain, Hussein can maintain that he is the only regional leader to oppose Western influence and, with that, garner widespread public support.

“I think Iraq wants to embarrass other Arab countries,” said Abdel Monem Said, director of the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, a Cairo think tank funded by the Egyptian government.

Having won some degree of public redemption under the weight of the international sanctions, the Iraqi leader responded to the Palestinian uprising in a way that built on that support. Although some Arab leaders gave mostly rhetorical support to the Palestinians, Hussein sent cash: $10,000 to each family of those killed and $500 to families of those injured.

“During the peace process, the moderates gained an upper hand over Saddam by showing that they could deliver,” said Tahseen Bashir, a longtime Egyptian government official. “Saddam is playing this very well.”

Other regional leaders are well aware of the mood Hussein has tapped into. They will, officials said, at least discuss the sanctions at the summit and ultimately pass a resolution expressing solidarity and sympathy for the Iraqi people. They will take up the issue of asking the United Nations to send peacekeepers into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict--a move Israel opposes. And they say they will agree to the cash payments to the Palestinian Authority.

Said, of the Al Ahram center, said the funding is also an attempt to bring at least a small degree of stability to the territories by providing residents with incomes.

But even as moderate forces try to hold on, there will be pressure to sever all remaining economic and social ties with Israel--particularly from Syria, which has supported the Hezbollah guerrillas who fought Israel in southern Lebanon. During the last summit, Egypt resisted pressure for such a break, though in November it recalled its ambassador from Israel, complaining of excessive force against the Palestinians.

When asked Thursday if he thought that his appeal to Egypt would have any effect, the Israeli ambassador said: “I am realistic. What can I say? We will see next week.”