President backs French proposal for Mideast talks

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Tuesday that Egypt’s relations with Israel, rooted in a landmark 1979 peace treaty, can only be “warmer” if his country’s former enemy reached a settlement with the Palestinians and pledged that Cairo would “make every effort” toward a solution. The Egyptian leader also declared his support for a French proposal to […]

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Tuesday that Egypt’s relations with Israel, rooted in a landmark 1979 peace treaty, can only be “warmer” if his country’s former enemy reached a settlement with the Palestinians and pledged that Cairo would “make every effort” toward a solution.
The Egyptian leader also declared his support for a French proposal to hold a Mideast peace conference, an idea already rejected by Israel, citing it along with U.S. efforts, a 2002 Arab peace plan and the international Mideast peace quartet as possible avenues to such a settlement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed el-Sissi’s “willingness to invest every effort to advance a future of peace and security between us and the Palestinians.”
Israel, he said in a statement, was ready to join Egypt and other Arab states in “advancing the peace process and stability in the region.”