Egypt’s Sisi hosts key American Jewish leaders

Special to WorldTribune.com

A delegation of American Jewish leaders met with Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Sisi on Feb. 11 to discuss Cairo’s security cooperation with Israel and U.S.-Egypt relations.

The meetings between Sisi as well as other Egyptian officials, and 36 members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations was described as “positive.”

Leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations meet with Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Sisi in Cairo on Feb. 11.
Leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations meet with Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Sisi in Cairo on Feb. 11.

“We came away with a greater understanding of the challenges and opportunities and how we can play a constructive role in addressing them and fostering international cooperation,” Conference leaders said in a statement.

The talks “covered a wide range of domestic and international issues, including U.S.-Egyptian and Israeli-Egyptian relations, regional threats, especially those posed by terrorist organizations and their supporters, and Iran post-JCPOA (the nuclear deal signed last July).”

Sisi’s government and Israel have forged strong ties on security issues in the region, including Egypt’s crackdown on Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) affiliated jihadists in Sinai and on both countries’ blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

The American Jewish delegation, led by the conference’s executive vice chairman Malcolm Hoenlein, met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Feb. 9.

Erdogan told a Turkish newspaper in December that he hoped to renew ties with Israel.

“Israel is in need of a country like Turkey in the region,” Erdogan told Turkish media in January. “And we, too, must accept that we need Israel. This is a reality in the region. If mutual steps are implemented based on sincerity, then normalization will follow.”