World Jewish News

Israel not represented in the Cairo donors conference for the reconstruction of Gaza

The foreign ministers of 30 countries attended in Cairo a Gaza reconstruction donors conference on Sunday but Israel was not represented, based on a silent understanding between the Prime Minister’s Office and the Egyptian presidency.
A senior Israeli official said that for weeks President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi’s office had sent the message that the Israelis would not be invited. The Egyptians asked Jerusalem to show some understanding.
The Egyptians added that if Israel accepted an invitation to Cairo, the Palestinians would cancel.
The Israeli official said a number of discussions were held on whether Jerusalem should insist on attending the conference. Foreign Ministry officials had said the Egyptian government should be pressured into extending an invitation, adding that because the conference would discuss issues that affected Israel, Jerusalem had to be there.
They said Israel’s absence would send the international community the message that Israel was willing to quietly accept being excluded. They said that at a time when the Israeli Prime Minister was telling the UN General Assembly that he wanted to cooperate with the Arab states to advance the peace process with the Palestinians, Israel had a clear interest in attending a donors conference.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman had raised his objections to Israel's absence saying that Israel has no interest in preventing the reconstruction of Gaza, he told Israel Radio. "The fact that Israel was not invited to the Cairo meeting does not contribute to the seriousness of the discussions."
‘’Hamas will not willingly disarm,’’ the foreign minister said, raising concerns that future funds raised at the conference will be funneled towards weapons manufacturing and tunnel building.
The Palestinians are the only ones who can prevent another operation in Gaza, he said."Israel has no intention of going back and attacking Gaza. We are not looking for adventures," he said, adding Israel's long-held position that if rocket fire were to resume, Israel would defend itself.
Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad, director of political-military affairs at the Defense Ministry, downplayed the importance of the conference, saying that the reality on the ground will be determined in Israel, not in Cairo.
Speaking in an Army Radio interview, Gilad, who was part of Israel's negotiating team in the Cairo talks that brought the cease-fire to end Operation Protective Edge in August, said "the apparatus to oversee rebuilding is being created here, and the Palestinian Authority is responsible for ensuring that there is rehabilitation."
He added that "the funding and international recognition is in Cairo, but a conference is not an alternative to actual agreements that are being reached here, it's all a masquerade."
During the Cairo conference, Qatar pledged 1 billion dollars toward the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip while U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced an immediate American assistance of 212 million dollars. The European Union pledged 450 million euros (568 million dollars). Norway’s Foreign Minister Borge Brende, who co-hosted the conference said that half the money would go towards rebuilding Gaza, the remainder to “the daily needs of the Palestinian people.”
In his opening speech on Sunday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi urged Israel to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians. ‘’I call on the Israeli people and the government: now is the time to end the conflict,” he said.
‘’We should turn this moment into a real starting point to achieve a peace that secures stability and flourishing and renders the dream of coexistence a reality, and this is the vision of the (2002) Arab peace initiative,” he said.
President Sissi said the reconstruction of Gaza hinged on a “permanent calm” between Hamas and Israel. He said it also required the exercise of “full authority” in the Gaza Strip by the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas. Egypt brokered a ceasefire in late August that ended 50 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
US Secretary of State John Kerry called for the conference to trigger “a renewed commitment from everybody to work for peace that meets the aspirations of all, for Israelis, for Palestinians, for all people of this region.” He promised “the full commitment of President Obama, myself and the US to do that.”
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said that work must begin to reach a comprehensive settlement for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
“I want to stress one more time that the solution for Gaza cannot be found in Gaza alone,” she said. “Only a credible resumption of the peace negotiations can allow for a durable solution to the current crisis.
“This must be the last time in which the international community is called upon to rebuild Gaza. There cannot be a return to the status quo which has proved unsustainable,” she added.
The conference’s participants also included Italy’s Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini who is set to succeed Ashton in November.

EJP