It also aims at achieving peace, security and stability for the Israeli people, he added. Israel did intermittently look to Cairo to help ease tensions with the Palestinians, but the last visit to Israel by an Egyptian foreign minister took place in 2007.
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“Egypt remains ready to contribute toward achieving this goal”, he added, saying that “the vision of the two-state solution is not far-fetched”, requiring “steps to build confidence”.
Egypt under former president Hosni Mubarak had long played a mediating role, hosting talks as recently as September 2010.
Palestinian leaders say years of talks with Israel have not ended the occupation, and have instead pursued global diplomacy to promote their cause.
Shoukry will also focus on ways to activate the global resolutions and previous agreements to build trust between the Israelis and the Palestinians as a step towards reviving the peace talks.
For years, the two countries have remained discreet about their close military ties to avoid aggravating public opinion in Egypt, which opposes normalized relations despite a 37-year-old peace treaty.
Shoukry held talks with Palestinian officials in Ramallah last month.
Egypt was the first of a handful of Arab countries to recognize Israel with a USA -sponsored peace accord in 1979, but Egyptian attitudes to their neighbor remain icy due to what many Arabs see as the continued Israeli occupation of land that is meant to form a Palestinian state. Netanyahu said Sunday that the funding will go to Kiryat Arba, a settlement of 7,000 Israelis, and to the Jewish residents of the adjacent Palestinian city of Hebron.
Non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council and expert on security issues in the Middle East, Zack Gold, told Daily News Egypt that he expects both of them to discuss the Palestinian issue in addition to other bilateral issues such as trade and agricultural exchanges.
Israel’s government on Sunday approved almost $13 million in financing for the West Bank settlements of Kiryat Arba and within Hebron, officials said.
The move failed to pan out after Netanyahu made a decision to turn down Zionist Union’s demands concerning the peace process with the Palestinians during coalition negotiations.
Palestinians seek the establishment of an independent state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, which were all captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-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.
Egypt faces Islamist militants in the Sinai region south of Israel, and both countries are wary of Gaza’s Hamas Islamist rulers.
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At least 214 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed.
