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The Next Step in Egypt-Israel Peace
(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Haisam Hassanein - Cairo did not allow any Egyptian officials or private citizens to participate in events in Israel marking the 40th anniversary of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty signed on March 26, 1979. Indeed, Egyptian news outlets were focused on the 30th anniversary of Israel returning the disputed Sinai town of Taba to Egyptian control - an event celebrated as a national holiday every March 19. The Egyptian government allows local media to maintain a very hostile tone toward Israel. Most media depictions of Israel-related issues reflect a widespread desire to ostracize Israelis and Jews, foment fear and hatred toward them, and glorify the Arab struggle against them. At the same time, Cairo is also keen on helping the international community expand peace with Israel to other Arab states. Yet its concept of peaceful relations is different from Israel's. Cairo seems to believe the Arab states are not strong enough to handle full normalization, theorizing that such an outcome would allow Israel to take control of their economic and financial systems. Hence, Egyptian officials market their own approach to Israel as the best model - namely, sign a bilateral peace agreement, yet greatly limit normalization.