Word: sadat
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...appeared that the only way to keep his government from capsizing might be to assume the Defense Ministry portfolio himself. Worst of all, the crisis further jeopardized the already stalled negotiations with Egypt over Palestinian autonomy-though at week's end there was talk of inviting Anwar Sadat to Israel for talks on the issue...
...Egypt, Weizman's resignation and the squabbling over a successor were seen as possible harbingers of early elections that could produce a more moderate Israeli government. Weizman enjoyed a close relationship with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. But he had long been recognized as a lonely voice of moderation in the Cabinet, unable to prevent Begin from pursuing the policies that the Egyptians argue have brought the Palestinian autonomy talks to a standstill...
During his rambling, four-hour speech Sadat talked at length about strife between Egypt's 2.5 million Coptic Christian minority and Muslim fundamentalists, which has grown more strident with the rise of Islamic militancy. He announced a ban on ecclesiastical groups that "seek to spread political dissension," an obvious reference to Islamic demonstrations against both the peace treaty with Israel and the presence in Egypt of the former Shah of Iran. He assured the Copts that they had nothing to fear. Said Sadat: "Our Islam is not [the Ayatullah] Khomeini's Islam. Khomeini's revolution...
...more down-to-earth benefit to the Egyptian people was Sadat's disclosure that taxes were being reduced (a tax on movie tickets, for example, was abolished), the minimum wage was being raised from $22 to $28 a month, and prices of 77 basic commodities were being lowered. Such measures will hardly transform the lives of Egypt's 42 million citizens, who subsist on an average income of $300 a year while coping with an inflation rate of 35%. But coming at a time of foreign policy disappointments, the announcement may have bolstered Egyptian morale at a critical...
...Sadat now realizes that his differences with Begin are virtually irreconcilable, and that he is unlikely to have a more flexible government to deal with until after the Israeli elections, scheduled for next year. He also knows that Carter will probably not put strong pressure on the Israelis for the duration of the U.S. presidential campaign and thus that the peace process will remain bogged down for at least six months. Those are as good reasons as any for turning his attention to Egypt's staggering domestic problems. As a West German expert put it, "Sadat is shoring things...