Egyptian FM to visit Israel in first such visit in a decade

Speaking to journalists alongside Mr Netanyahu before their meeting, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said it was a “crucial and challenging juncture for the Middle East”.

Al-Sisi said then there’s a “real chance” for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, with the mediation of Arab states – led by Egypt – and based on the 2002 Saudi Peace Initiative.

Mr. Shoukry’s visit comes after he already met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on June 29 in Ramallah, the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority (PA), and after Mr. Sisi urged Israel in May in an impromptu speech to resume the mired negotiations.

“It reflects the change in relations between Israel and Egypt, including President Sisi’s important call to advance the peace process with the Palestinians and with Arab countries”.

Last month, however, Netanyahu said that he would not accept the initiative’s key condition that Israel withdraw from land occupied during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, including East Jerusalem.

Egypt’s foreign minister is set to arrive in Israel Sunday for the first such visit in almost a decade, reflecting the warming ties between the former adversaries.

In June, representatives from 28 Arab and Western countries, the Arab League, European Union and the United Nations met in Paris to discuss ways in which the global community could help advance the Palestinian-Israel peace process.

Relations between the two countries, however, remain a sensitive issue in public opinion and the Egyptian media. Instead, Netanyahu opted for the inclusion of Yisrael Beiteinu in the governing coalition and the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as defense minister.

In the light of a Palestinian government that includes Hamas, Israel rejected further talks and rejected to accept a Unity Government.

“We’re familiar with the American position; we don’t accept it. Building in Jerusalem and Maale Adumim is not, with all due respect, distancing peace”, Netanyahu said on Wednesday at a press conference in Rwanda, referring to an illegal settlement near Jerusalem.

At least 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the same period. In particular, the two sides share intelligence in a common battle against Islamic militants operating in Egypt’s Sinai desert and the Gaza Strip.

“State Department Spokesperson John Kirby said, “…this report would be the latest step in what seems to be a systematic process of land seizures, settlement expansions and legalizations of outposts that is fundamentally undermining the prospects for a two-state solution…