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!”
A pokud to Mubarakovi vyhovovalo, pak tuto roli hrál. Když palestinský vůdce Jásir Arafat ponížil Mubaraka před americkou ministryní zahraničí a mezinárodními sdělovacími prostředky tím, že odmítl podepsat dodatek izraelsko-palestinské dohody zprostředkované v Káhiře, řekl mu Mubarak: „Podepiš to, ty psí synu!“