Since the end of the October 1973 war, Arab-Israeli peace has been a cornerstone of America’s Middle East agenda. The US often looked to Egypt, the most important and influential Arab country, to play a leading role in promoting this goal. And, when it suited him, Mubarak played his part. When the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat humiliated Mubarak before the US secretary of state and the international media by refusing to sign an annex to an Israeli-Palestinian accord brokered in Cairo, Mubarak told him, “Sign it, you son of a dog!”
Depuis la fin de la guerre du Kippour en octobre 1972, la paix israélo-arabe a été la pierre angulaire de la politique américaine au Proche-Orient. Les Etats-Unis a souvent demandé à l’Égypte, le plus important et le plus influent pays arabe, de jouer un rôle de premier plan pour promouvoir cet objectif.