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Israel, Egypt mull renewing ME peace talks amid thaw of ties

Xinhua, June 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

A high-ranking Israeli diplomat visited Cairo on Sunday for prospects on renewing the Israel-Palestine peace talks, sources said.

Dore Gold, director-general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, made an official visit to Cairo at the invitation of Egyptian officials, a source in the Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed to Xinhua.

Gold met on Sunday, among others, the Egyptian deputy foreign minister to talk about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as prospects for renewing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, according to the source. The two officials also discussed the key part of Egypt in facilitating such efforts.

It's the first time since 2011 that an Israeli foreign ministry director-general has visited Cairo, which is seen as the evidence of warming ties between the two countries.

Just a week before the visit, Egypt announced that it would appoint a new ambassador in Tel Aviv, a position that has not been filled in the past three years. Former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi withdrew the Egyptian ambassador in 2012 in response to Israel's "Pillar of Defense" military operation then in Gaza.

Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979 and have since kept strong ties throughout the past decades, with former Egyptian President Housni Moubark in charge. But things changed following the 2011 protests in Cairo, after which Morsi, from the Muslim Brotherhood, assumed power as president in 2012.

Although Morsi negotiated a deal in 2012 between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza, he slammed Israel for civilian casualties among the Palestinians and thus reduced the countries' cooperation.

It appears that ties have strengthened under the leadership of current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, with increasing security cooperation between the countries along the border and in the area of the Sinai Peninsula, a haven of Jihadi groups.

Sisi also played a key part in the ceasefire negotiations that brought an end to Israel's latest offensive in Gaza last August.

Israeli media reported several months ago that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Egyptian president maintained a close relationship throughout the ties to reach a ceasefire.

Dore Gold, a close associate of Netanyahu, was appointed by the prime minister last month as the Foreign Ministry's director-general. He is also a known right-winger who served in the United Nations and was Netanyahu's political adviser.

Gold is also busy recently in efforts to rehabilitate Israel's relations with Turkey. The two countries suffered a hit in 2010 when Israeli soldiers confronted a flotilla heading to the Gaza Strip and killed Turkish citizens on board. Endit