Egypt's Mubarak says Israel's colonization must stop

Mubarak also added that the speech delivered by Barak Obama in Cairo at the beginning of May marked a shift in Arab-
American relations, especially in the Muslim World. Egypt is Israel's closest Arab ally since the signature of a peace treaty between the two countries since 1979.

On May 4th, President Obama called on Israel to stop building settlements into Palestinian territories and expressed his desire to see a Palestinian state established side by side with Israel.

In a report which ran in the Wall Street Journal, the Egyptian President thought that the non-stop colonization of Israel, which has seriously hurt the chances of the two-state solution, must stop, and reiterated that a historic peace accord is at hand.

As far as the Palestinians are concerned, Mubarak said that they must continue to reinforce their institutional capacities while overcoming their differences in order to realize their desire to have their own state. On Monday, Mubarak commented that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request that Palestinian recognize Israel as a  Jewish State was 'ruining the possibilities for peace'.  The U.S. State Department endorsed Mubarak's statements.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly issued the following statement: 'We agree with President Mubarak that it is important to seize the opportunity to put an end to decades of conflict in the Middle East'. He added that the United States supports President Mubarak's unequivocal message that all parties in the region must play a role, including Arab countries. Finally, he said that the United States are committed in cooperating with their partners in the region in order to attain global peace.