Egypt’s foreign minister is to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday on reviving peace efforts with the Palestinians, the first such visit in nearly a decade and the latest sign of warming ties.
The trip comes amid talk of renewing an Arab peace initiative and with Israel’s military having recently saluted “unprecedented” intelligence cooperation with Egypt to combat the Daesh group.
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry was to hold “lengthy talks” with Netanyahu aiming to resurrect the peace process with the Palestinians, his office said.
Shoukry also held discussions with Palestinian leaders during a visit to the West Bank city of Ramallah on June 29.
Netanyahu confirmed his visit to Israel and said the last such trip by an Egyptian foreign minister was in 2007.
There would be two meetings — one at 4:15 p.m. (1315 GMT) and another in the evening.
“This visit is important for several reasons,” said Netanyahu.
“It reflects the change in relations between Israel and Egypt, including President Sissi’s important call to advance the peace process with the Palestinians and with Arab countries.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said in May that there was a “real opportunity” for an Israeli-Palestinian deal that could lead to warmer ties between his country and Israel.
Sissi urged both sides to seize what he said was a “real opportunity” and hailed Egypt’s peace deal with Israel.
Egypt’s foreign ministry said Shoukry and Netanyahu would discuss “laying the foundation and specifics of confidence-building between Palestinians and Israelis to create a supportive environment to resume direct negotiations between them with the aim of reaching a comprehensive and just solution.”
Israeli public radio said the trip was also partly intended to prepare the groundwork for a possible visit by Netanyahu to Cairo, but officials have yet to comment on the report.
In 1979, Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with neighboring Israel after years of conflict, and it remains an influential player in the region.
Their ties have, however, been formally cold over Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians, and relations further soured after the June 2012 election of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Muhammad Mursi as Egyptian president.
After president Hosni Mubarak’s ouster in the 2011 revolution, protesters stormed Israel’s embassy in September that year amid clashes with police.
Mursi was ousted in July 2013 by then army chief Sissi, who was elected Egypt’s president in 2014.
In June, representatives from 28 Arab and Western countries, the Arab League, European Union and the United Nations met in Paris to discuss ways to help advance peace efforts.
Israel strongly opposes that initiative, which is being promoted by France.
Netanyahu has at the same time spoken of reviving a long-dormant Arab peace initiative dating to 2002.
The proposal essentially calls for Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories and resolve the issue of refugees with the Palestinians, leading to the creation of a Palestinian state, in exchange for normalized relations with Arab countries.
But some analysts have questioned whether Netanyahu’s comments were a bid to fend off international critics over his appointment of hard-line Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and his opposition to the French plan.
He has said he would seek changes to the Arab proposal. The Arab League has said the terms cannot be changed.
There have been repeated warnings that Israeli settlement building and Palestinian attacks are eroding the possibility of a two-state solution, especially with peace efforts at a standstill since April 2014.
Violence since October has killed at least 214 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese.
Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities.
Others were shot dead during protests and clashes, while some were killed by Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip.
Egypt and Israel have cooperated in other areas, particularly with jihadists in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula having pledged allegiance in November 2014 to the Daesh group.
In April, the Israeli military’s deputy chief of staff spoke of an “unprecedented level of cooperation” with Egypt, mainly regarding intelligence.
Major General Yair Golan said “there is a strong feeling in the region... that we have to put aside past animosities and concentrate on mutual interests and working together” to deal with the jihadist threat.
However, he cautioned “that’s between defense establishments, and I wouldn’t describe that as some sort of reconciliation between the people.
“But it is a good starting point, and I’m quite optimistic concerning that.”

Source: Arab News