Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi held secret talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Isaac Herzog last year to promote a plan that would have recognized Israel as a Jewish state, according to a report by the Haaretz newspaper, Al Jazeera network has revealed.
According to the newspaper, several Arab countries helped broker the April 2016 secret meeting in Cairo with the aim of forming a coalition government in Israel between Netanyahu’s Likud party and Herzog’s Zionist Union party.
The meeting in Cairo came off the heels of a secret four-way summit in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba in February 2016, also reported by Haaretz, where Sisi, Netanyahu, then-US Secretary of State John Kerry and Jordan’s King Abdullah II were prepared to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
Netanyahu met secretly a yr ago w/ Egyptian/Jordanian leaders in a failed attempt by Obama to secure peace. (Reut): https://t.co/HPqvGnZSNi
— Steven Ashley (@steveashleyplus) February 19, 2017
An Israeli source familiar with the Aqaba summit’s details told Haaretz: “Netanyahu wanted a regional initiative that he would lead, together with the leaders of Jordan and Egypt, and only at a later stage add the American administration.”
According to Haaretz, Netanyahu’s demands in Aqaba included a public summit that would also be attended by senior officials of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Sunni states.
He also requested to get US recognition for construction in the large settlement blocs, in return for freezing building in isolated settlements east of the separation barrier.
Communist Organization of Greece (KOE): Netanyahu not welcome in Greece! https://t.co/odg8NSpoa3 via @PFLP_ps
— Ali Hussein (@Alihussein_2) June 15, 2017
“These talks [in Cairo], like the regional initiative, failed due to Netanyahu’s refusal to give the Palestinians what was required,” Haaretz’s Monday report said.
There was no mention in Haaretz’s reports if Palestinian leaders attended any of the meetings or if they had agreed to any of the demands.
(Al Jazeera, Haaretz, PC, Social Media)
