Ekip
11 July 2016•Update: 11 July 2016
By Kaamil Ahmed
JERUSALEM
Israeli officials are hoping to organize a rare trip to Egypt for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, local media reported Monday.
Following Sunday's visit to Jerusalem by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry -- the first such visit by an Egyptian FM in almost 10 years -- Israel's Channel 2 reported that attempts were now underway to organize a meeting between Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office would not comment on the reports.
The close contacts between Israel and Egypt have been focused on resuming bilateral talks between Palestinians and Israelis, particularly within the context of ongoing French efforts to convene an international conference aimed at resuming the moribund peace process -- an initiative Israel has rejected as an "imposed" solution.
In May, al-Sisi declared that Egypt was willing to host bilateral Palestine-Israel talks based on the so-called Arab Peace Initiative.
First tabled by Saudi Arabia in 2002, the proposal calls for all Arab states to recognize the Jewish state in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from lands occupied in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, including East Jerusalem.
Netanyahu, however, has reiterated Israel’s longstanding refusal to carry out such a withdrawal, saying last month that the Arab proposal would have to be revised.
