Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has reportedly asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express a “goodwill” gesture towards Palestinians by supporting a two-state solution as a precondition for visiting Cairo, political sources in Tel Aviv said.
Sources told Walla news website that the visit was scheduled for last autumn, but Egypt backed away from the invitation when Netanyahu decided to hold early elections.
According to the sources, Cairo agreed to resume talks on the visit because Egypt is concerned over its ties with the US administration.
Egyptian officials believe that support for the Palestinian cause and having good relations with all parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would help improve relations with the White House.
They see Netanyahu’s visit as an important step in reviving a solution to the Palestinian cause, provided that it comes with a change in the Israeli position.
The website added that Netanyahu's request to visit Egypt has been under discussion between the two parties for the past several months.
Netanyahu’s last visit to Cairo was a decade ago in Sharm al-Sheikh, under the rule of late president Hosni Mubarak.
Walla claims that Netanyahu has visited Egypt “secretly” several times since that official trip and maintained good relations with former President Mohammed Morsi.
The PM is seeking official talks with Sisi, but the latter wants Netanyahu to make a statement before or during his visit to Egypt that he is committed to a two-state solution.
However, Sisi’s proposal has raised Netanyahu’s concerns that he will lose the support of right-wing voters in the elections.
Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel visited Tel Aviv last week and repeated the same request by providing guarantees that Israeli authorities will not interfere in the Palestinian elections.
The Israeli government assured him that it will not obstruct the polls despite its opposition to holding such elections.
