20110911
Reuters
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel and Egypt are working to preserve the landmark peace accord they signed in 1979, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman said on Saturday after rioting forced the evacuation of Israel's Cairo embassy.

"There is a new Egyptian administration with which we are fully and painstakingly coordinating. And it is the intent of this Egyptian administration, as it is that of the government of Israel, to preserve the peace that has been preserved for more than 30 years," spokesman Roni Sofer said.

Speaking on Israel's Army Radio, Sofer said Netanyahu sought to return Ambassador Yitzhak Levanon to Egypt "soon, under the appropriate security arrangements".

Sofer commended Egyptian forces for extricating six guards who had been besieged by hundreds of protestors at the embassy but said Israel was not yet "turning the page" on the unprecedented incident.