(Jerusalem Post) Zvi Mazel - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares that he has frequent conversations with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. Egypt has sent an ambassador to Tel Aviv and the Embassy of Israel in Cairo is open again. Sisi's foreign minister recently made a visit to Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu's envoys regularly travel to Cairo for high-level talks. The Egyptian president is behind all these moves. Sisi has launched an all-out effort to develop his country and put it on the path of sustainable economic growth. Cooperation with Israel is part of this vision. Sisi is a staunch Muslim but has always shunned religious extremism and has been pushing for toning down extremism in Islam. The Education Ministry has been tasked with removing from textbooks elements encouraging religious extremism, specifically those extolling Jihad. Also expunged were some texts disparaging the Jews, but not all. Chapters dealing with the peace agreement with Israel were expanded; the new history book has a picture of Menachem Begin next to Anwar Sadat. The writer is a former Israeli ambassador to Egypt, Romania and Sweden.
2016-09-09 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive