Netanyahu Preparing For An Official Visit To Egypt – Report
11/30/2020
The thawing of relations with the Arab world is also occurring in Egypt, political sources have told Maariv, sister publication of The Jerusalem Post. Following the normalization agreements between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which will focus mostly on the economy, Jerusalem is beginning to also work on strengthening economic relations with Egypt.
Officials from both countries are currently in talks ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reported visit to Cairo in the coming weeks, during which he will meet with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. In the future, a bilateral meeting is planned between the economic delegations of Israel and Egypt, where joint economic projects and the promotion of business relations between the two countries will be discussed.
Netanyahu has a history of meetings with Egyptian leaders. In 2010, he met then-president Hosni Mubarak. The two discussed attempts to open direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The visit took place in a tense atmosphere, following the call of then-foreign minister Avigdor Liberman for a complete disengagement of Israel from the Gaza Strip. Shortly afterwards, Mubarak’s rule was overthrown.
Another visit to Cairo was planned by Netanyahu’s office in the winter of 2016, about two years after incumbent president Sisi came to power. The visit was canceled by the Egyptians in light of statements by Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, according to which Egypt flooded Hamas tunnels at Israel’s request.
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