Netanyahu and Sisi expected to talk on the sidelines of U.N. meeting

Netanyahu and al-Sisi supposedly met in a secret meeting in Cairo in May.

By CASSANDRA GOMES-HOCHBERG
Updated: SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 06:15
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (right) speaks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting ahead of the UN General Assembly last September (2017). (photo credit: REUTERS)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (right) speaks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting ahead of the UN General Assembly last September (2017).
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is expected to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, the Egyptian daily Akhbar al-Yawm reported on Monday, according to Channel 10.
Al-Sisi said that the two-state solution should be part of any American peace plan and that the plan should include principles from previous negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Al-Sisi is also expected to raise the matter during his meeting with US President Donald Trump, even though it was reported that he doesn't expect any significant breakthrough in the negotiations.
Netanyahu and al-Sisi supposedly met in a secret meeting in Cairo in May.  As reported by Channel 10, according to senior American officials, Netanyahu and al-Sisi discussed ways to end the violence in Gaza by promoting a political settlement that would include the return of the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip, a cease-fire, significant easing of Israeli and Egyptian blockage of Gaza and steps to rehabilitate Gaza's infrastructure.
It occurred just a week after the US moved its embassy to Jerusalem, and violence along the Gaza border peaked when 62 Palestinians were killed in riot. Egypt had been intensively involved with trying to broker a truce between Hamas and Israel. The former meeting seemed to have triggered the cease-fire.
In the evening, King Abdullah met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in New York to discuss strategic partnership between the United States and Jordan, as well as regional and international issues, such as attempts to negotiate between Israel and the Palestinians.
No response has been received from the Prime Minister's Office.
Channel 10, Herb Keinon and Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.