Sources at the Egyptian embassy in Israel told i24news that officials have started preparing a visit, but the details of that visit depend on progress made during talks between Netanyahu and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.
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After decades of wars followed by a cold peace, Israel has emerged as a discreet ally to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
Tony Blair, who has been in active contact with President al-Sis, was recently involved in talks to bring Israel’s Zionist Union (formerly Labour) party leader, Isaac Herzog, into talks with Netanyahu to promote the Sisi push for negotiations.
Egypt was the first of a handful of Arab countries to recognise Israel with a US -sponsored peace accord in 1979, but Egyptians’ attitudes to their neighbour remain icy.
JERUSALEM (AP) Israel’s attorney general is looking into suspicions surrounding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu which are reportedly linked to a large transfer of money to the Israeli leader or one of his family members.
Last week Netanyahu authorized hundreds of new homes for Israelis in the West Bank and east Jerusalem as a response to Palestinian violence.
In Sisi’s impromptu and unusual foreign policy speech in May, he said “we will achieve a warmer peace if we resolve the issue of our Palestinian brothers”, and he asked the Israeli leadership to broadcast his words throughout its country.
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’s visit also coincides with the French efforts to revive peace in the Middle East, after Paris announced its initiative to hold an International Conference for Peace at the end of this year to gather all parties concerned by the conflict.
His trip is seen as a sign of strengthened ties between two countries sharing deep concerns over regional unrest.
Al-Quds reported US Democratic presidential nominee Bernie Sanders failed to include an item calling for ending the Israeli occupation in Democratic Party’s platform. He said he would hold two meetings during the day with Shoukry.
Since September, Palestinians have killed 34 Israelis in dozens of attacks.
The Israeli prime minister said back then that he could consider the Arab peace initiative introduced in 2002 before saying that it would require amendments.
The Israeli business delegation arrived in Kenya for state-sponsored meetings, while Netanyahu and six African heads of state met at Ugandan President Yoweri Musevini’s palace banquet.
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Egypt and Israel have cooperated in other areas, particularly after jihadists in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula pledged allegiance in November 2014 to the Islamic State group.
