Egyptian cabinet chief al-Tahtawi on whether the Egypt-Israel peace is in jeopardy: No, not at all…

On the Nov. 15 edition of Amanpour, guest host and contributor Hala Gorani interviewed Mohamed Refa’a al-Tahtawi, chief of the Egyptian presidential cabinet, about Egypt’s potential involvement in brokering a peace between Israel and Gaza.  Gorani also asked al-Tahtawi about whether his nation would continue to honor the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, in the face of continuing violence in the region.

The following is an excerpt from that interview:

Hala Gorani, CNN host, Amanpour contributor:  Dr. Refa’a al-Tahtawi joins me now on the phone.  He’s head of Mohammed Morsi’s presidential advising committee.  He was also Egypt’s ambassador to Iran and Libya.  He is traveling to Gaza tomorrow with Prime Minister Kandil of Egypt.

So this is a question that people have, first of all, thanks for joining us, Dr. Tahtawi.  Are these treaties that Egypt signed with Israel, these — all these decades ago, are they in jeopardy today?

MOHAMED REFA’A AL-TAHTAWI, CHIEF OF THE EGYPTIAN PRESIDENTIAL CABINET:  No, not at all.  Not at all, because we have declared several times and repeatedly that we abide by our international commitments (ph).  But respecting the peace treaty does not mean they’re idle or indifferent to what is going on along our borders and  what is touching our brothers.    And we cannot be indifferent to human sufferings.  So we are abiding by our legal obligations, but we are active to help establishing real peace in the area.

The full transcript of this program may be found here.  This edition of Amanpour aired on Thursday, Nov. 15 on CNN International at 3:00pmET in the North America.   In Europe, Amanpour airs on CNN International at 21:00 CET.

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