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Netanyahu urges Egypt's future government to uphold peace treaty with Israel

Israel Materials 4 December 2011 23:33 (UTC +04:00)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged any future government to uphold Egypt's peace treaty with Israel after Islamist parties won in the first round of Egypt's parliamentary elections, dpa reported.
Netanyahu urges Egypt's future government to uphold peace treaty with Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged any future government to uphold Egypt's peace treaty with Israel after Islamist parties won in the first round of Egypt's parliamentary elections, dpa reported.

"We hope that any government that will be established recognize the importance of continuing the vision of peace with Israel, both as a value in itself, and as a foundation for the region's security and economic stability," he said at a speech in southern Israel.

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said he hoped Egypt would not become an extremist Islamist state. "We still hope to preserve the peace treaty with Egypt," he told Israel Radio.

Environment Minister Gilad Erdan said Israel should nurture ties with any government that would be elected in Cairo and do all it could to safeguard the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt.

The two ministers are members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling Likud party.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak earlier called what he said was a process of Islamization in Arab states "very troubling."

"It would be premature to say how those changes are going to influence the region. I hope that any government that is formed in Egypt will understand that there is no choice but to preserve the framework of international agreements, including the peace treaty with Israel," the daily Yediot Ahronot quoted him as saying Saturday.

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