Egyptian newspaper “The New Arab” ran a story yesterday morning about a planned visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu to Egypt hyperlink here. The first stop on his diplomatic tour is Alexandria according to the website, who claims that Netanyahu is set to oversee the inauguration ceremony of a historic synagogue in the Egyptian Mediterranean city.
The visit would be historic indeed. But though the story of Netanyahu’s Egypt tour and synagogue ceremony has made its rounds across Arab media outlets , Israeli news has been quick to deny these claims. According to al-Masdar News, an Arabic-language Israeli website, numerous sources within Netanyahu’s office have denied The New Arab’s story and clarified that there are presently no plans for the Israeli PM to visit Egypt anytime soon.
Relations between Egypt and Israel have become friendlier in recent months, with Egyptian President Abdel Fateh el-Sisi revealing that he frequently has discussions with Netanyahu, and that both parties agree peace in the region between Palestinians and Israelis would be a monumental achievement. Sisi, on his end, has offered to help broker the deal in Egypt.
Last month, Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry visited Israel and gave a joint speech with Netanyahu - the first visit of its kind since 2007. It’s led to speculation that perhaps it is the first step in making an official Israeli visit to Cairo a possibility, though some analysts have noted hyperlinkthat such a visit might come with the expectation of a diplomatic move on the part of Israeli.
Though such a visit isn’t off the cards, Israel says it won’t be happening anytime soon.
