Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi invited Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Wednesday for an official visit in the next few weeks via Cairo’s spy chief, the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
“The invitation from President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was conveyed by Egypt’s intelligence minister [Abbas Kamel] during a meeting with Bennett in Jerusalem,” the statement said.
Bennnett and Sissi had spoken by phone after Bennett’s government was sworn in two months ago, and had planned to meet in the future.
Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the last official visit to Egypt from an Israeli premier in 2011 when he met with the late Hosni Mubarak. However, Netanyahu was reported to have secretly met Sissi in Egypt in 2018.
According to the PMO, Kamal and Bennett met in Jerusalem to discuss “diplomatic, security and economic aspects of Israel-Egypt relations, as well as the Egyptian mediation in the security situation vis-à-vis the Gaza Strip.”
Egypt helped broker the ceasefire that ended the recent round of conflict between Israel and the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group.
Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 under former president Anwar Sadat.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.