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Israel
Relations with Middle Eastern States
Despite the Arab-Israeli conflict, Israel has established formal
diplomatic relations with Egypt and maintained a de facto peaceful
relationship with Jordan. Israeli leaders have traveled to Morocco
to discuss Israeli-Arab issues, and Morocco has often served as
an intermediary between Israel and the other Arab states. In 1983
Israel signed a peace treaty with Lebanon, although it was quickly
abrogated by the Lebanese as a result of Syrian pressure. Some
secret diplomatic contacts may also have occurred between Israel
and Tunisia.
Egypt
In late 1988, about ten years after the signing of the Camp David
Accords and the Treaty of Peace Between Egypt and Israel (see
The Peace Process , ch. 1), a "cool" peace characterized Egyptian-Israeli
relations. These relations had originally been envisioned as leading
to a reconciliation between Israel and the Arab states, but this
development has not occurred. EgyptianIsraeli relations have been
restrained by a number of developments, including the June 1981
Israeli bombing of an Iraqi nuclear reactor, the Israeli invasion
of Lebanon directed against Palestinian forces a year later, the
establishment of an increasing number of Jewish settlements in
the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and the "watering down" of proposals
for the autonomy of the Palestinian inhabitants of these territories
as envisaged by the Camp David Accords and the Egyptian-Israeli
peace treaty.
Relations between the two countries warmed somewhat during Peres's
tenure as prime minister and minister of foreign affairs in the
National Unity Government. They again cooled, however, following
the establishment of the Likud-led cabinet in December 1988, and
prime minister Shamir's rejection of Israeli participation in
an international peace conference with the PLO. Nevertheless,
the two countries continued to maintain full diplomatic relations,
and in 1985 about 60,000 Israeli tourists visited Egypt, although
Egyptian tourism to Israel was much smaller. Cooperation occurred
in the academic and scientific areas as well as in a number of
joint projects in agriculture, marine science, and disease control.
Another issue that had impeded normal relations between Egypt
and Israel concerned the disposition of Taba, an approximately
100- hectare border enclave and tourist area on the Gulf of Aqaba
in the Sinai Peninsula claimed by the two countries, but occupied
by Israel. Following a September 1988 ruling in Egypt's favor
by an international arbitration panel, official delegations from
Israel and Egypt met to implement the arbitral award.
Data as of December 1988
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