Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
A spokesman for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi railed against a report in the Israeli media about his country’s part in a clandestine Mideast peace summit in Jordan last year, hosted by King Abdullah II and attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-US Secretary of State John Kerry, the Hebrew news site nrg reported on Monday.
According to nrg, Alaa Youssef demanded to clarify that the Haaretz report “included false information.”
Youssef was referring to the Haaretz article which said Egypt was “sparing no effort” to reach a just and comprehensive two-state solution, which involves the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967 borders.
Youssef said that, “contrary to the false report,” Egypt’s position has been to “lead the way towards a permanent solution to the Palestinian issue and to safeguard the rights of the Palestinian people by hearing and weighing various opinions from the involved parties and is prepared to examine initiatives aimed at reviving the peace process.”
Youssef, who failed to say what about the Haaretz report was false, added, “Reaching a final solution to this issue will lead to a new reality that guarantees the safety and security of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples, and will provide hope to anyone who wants to achieve economic and social development in the region.”
During a speech Monday morning to a gathering in Jerusalem of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Israeli Opposition Leader Isaac Herzog confirmed the Haaretz report about the secret meeting, at which Netanyahu purportedly presented a five-point plan that included a freeze in settlement construction outside of the major blocs, in exchange for American recognition of Israel’s right to build within those blocs.