Egypt was the first Arab country to recognize Israel after signing a peace treaty with the Jewish state in 1979.
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Egypt’s foreign minister met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday on reviving peace efforts with the Palestinians, the first such visit in almost a decade and the latest sign of warming ties.
Israeli and Palestinian officials have said they believe Mr. Sisi can act as an honest broker, as security cooperation between Egypt and Israel is at a high point and Mr. Sisi has indicated he is committed to establishing a Palestinian state.
“Ever since the cessation of negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides in April 2014, the situation on the ground has been in constant deterioration, ” he said before a work meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Reacting to the announcement, US State Department spokesman John Kirby criticised the decision of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling it a move “fundamentally undermining the prospects for a two-state solution”.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who already has observer status at the African Union, will attend a summit meeting next week in the Rwandan capital of Kigali, his office said. Israel often praises el-Sissi for his tough stance on militants, and considers him a key ally in what it sees as a shared battled against Islamic extremists.
Sameh Shoukry called for a two-state solution, but said conditions for achieving it are deteriorating.
Sisi recently made a high-profile speech calling for a resumption of efforts to bring peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Israel’s recent reconciliation agreement with Turkey highlighted that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to have geopolitical significance even if there are no peace talks on the horizon, said H.A. Hellyer, a senior nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Center for the Middle East. “Cairo has a strategic interest in ensuring it is perceived internationally as being indispensable to the resolution”, he said.
Netanyahu vehemently rejected a French-sponsored Middle East peace initiative launched in June as an undesired intervention.
Binyamin Netanyahu has said he would be willing to discuss the Arab peace plan but changes would have to be made.
Mr Netanyahu welcomed Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s “recent offer of Egyptian leadership and efforts to advance peace with the Palestinians and a broader peace in our region”.
“The multilateral effect will take time, but it has begun”, Netanyahu said in a phone interview after returning on Friday from his trip to Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia.
In a press conference with Shoukry, Netanyahu called on the Palestinians “to follow the courageous example of Egypt and Jordan and join us for direct negotiations”. Two officials said Sunday’s decision was about new monies.
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Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities.
