Despite repeated direct Egyptian engagement with US officials, particularly at the intelligence level, aimed at arranging a meeting between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, matters do not appear to be moving in the direction Washington desires. The United States is seeking to restore relations between Cairo and Tel Aviv to what it calls their “normal” state, according to Egyptian sources who spoke to Al Akhbar.
According to the sources, the US proposal currently under discussion at the levels of intelligence agencies and the State Department is based on holding a trilateral meeting bringing together el Sisi, Netanyahu, and US President Donald Trump at the White House. This would take place during Netanyahu’s scheduled visit to Washington at the end of the current month. The proposed summit would discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip, with the participation of other leaders, and would conclude with “important announcements”, foremost among them the transition to the “second phase” of the ceasefire agreement and the commencement of forming supervisory institutions for the Strip.
Cairo, however, conditions its participation on confirmation of a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, which Israel considers “inappropriate” at the present time, according to the sources. In addition to the withdrawal demand, Egypt stresses a set of points related to how the situation in Gaza is to be managed, particularly with regard to launching the reconstruction track and supporting the move towards holding the conference whose postponement Cairo announced last month until further notice. This came after Egypt sensed a lack of sufficient seriousness from Washington or Tel Aviv in moving forward on this path.
While transitioning to the “second phase” of the agreement is an objective that Cairo seeks, it does not wish to hold a meeting between el Sisi and Netanyahu merely to announce this transition, which should involve all parties, namely Egypt, Turkey, and the Palestinian Authority, according to the sources. They also indicate that there are “pressing issues that need to be discussed with Tel Aviv at the present time”.
Nevertheless, the sources affirm that el Sisi, who had been scheduled to visit the White House last February before retreating following what occurred with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in terms of public embarrassment, has now become “more confident in managing any surprises from Trump in front of the media”. At the same time, he is “awaiting what can be achieved politically from any potential visit”, particularly in light of Egypt’s desire to “entrench a new security reality in Sinai”.
In this context, the sources describe media leaks that spoke of proposed Egyptian amendments to the Camp David Accords as “exaggerated”. They clarify that these amendments relate to “reconsidering the mechanisms for deploying forces necessary to maintain security, in light of the changes the region has witnessed over the past fifteen years and the security challenges that have resulted for both Cairo and Tel Aviv”. The sources note that these ideas “have indeed been discussed at security levels, but have not yet been formulated in a final framework that would allow a move to implementation”. In any case, they “will not bring about a fundamental change on the ground, but will give it an official form that would halt Israel’s repeated claims that Egypt is violating the treaty”. The sources add that Egypt is seeking “stable and lasting conditions along the border strip, taking into account not only the requirements of addressing security challenges, but also ensuring the lives of residents, especially in light of urban expansion in a number of desert areas”.
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