JERUSALEM, Dec 10 (NNN-PNN) – Israel’s Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, yesterday made an official visit to Egypt, to meet the country’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, in a bid to strengthen bilateral ties.
“Strengthening Israel-Egypt relations is a very important interest of Israel,” Lapid said.
Lapid’s one-day visit also includes a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry.
As “a gesture to strengthen ties,” Israel will return to Egypt, archaeological artefacts that have been illegally smuggled from Egypt and seized by the Israeli authority, it said.
The Israeli ministry said that the visit is part of the “Israeli government’s foreign policy to leverage the common interests of regional stability.”
The trip comes after Lapid and Shoukry talked over the phone in Sept, and agreed to strengthen bilateral ties.
In Sept, Sisi hosted Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The meeting marked the first official visit to Egypt by an Israeli leader for a decade.
Before returning home, Bennett said, the meeting was “important and very good” and laid foundations for “strong ties” between the two countries.
Egypt was the first Arab country to sign peace accords with Israel in 1979, following decades of enmity.– NNN-PNN
