Israel and Egypt's new military rulers have made initial contact and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday welcomed their pledge to stand by Cairo's peace treaty with the Jewish state. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of Egypt's Higher Military Council, spoke by telephone on Saturday, a ministry spokeswoman said, declining to give further details.
In remarks to reporters that echoed a written statement issued on Saturday, Netanyahu voiced satisfaction that Egypt's military leadership had announced it would respect all the country's international treaties.
"The peace agreement was kept by Egypt throughout the years ... it is the cornerstone of peace and stability, not only for the two countries, but for the whole region as well," Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
In 1979 Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel, which watched warily throughout the weeks of protests that brought down President Hosni Mubarak on Friday.
Saturday's message from Egypt's military leaders appeared to be aimed at soothing concern in Israel and the United States about the U.S.-brokered pact that ended three decades of hostilities.
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