Netanyahu's meeting with the Egyptian intelligence chief symbolizes a certain compromise in Cairo-Jerusalem relations after months of tension, but it is not certain that this is a real breakthrough.
YONI BEN MENACHEM -- Senior political officials in Jerusalem say that the visit of Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad to Israel yesterday, and his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the new head of the Shin Bet, David Zini, symbolizes a certain compromise in the extraordinary tensions that have prevailed between Israel and Egypt since the outbreak of the war on October 7, 2023.
According to them, the visit is a direct continuation of the recent telephone conversation between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Netanyahu. That conversation took place under American pressure, during the visit of US President Donald Trump to Israel, during which al-Sisi invited Netanyahu to participate in a conference in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Senior security officials note that the Netanyahu-Rashad meeting reflects a mutual desire by Israel and Egypt to renew and maintain high-level communication channels, in light of the American demand to promote the implementation of Trump's Middle East peace plan. According to them, the very fact of sending the Egyptian intelligence chief to Israel indicates Cairo's desire to serve as a central player in the region - a mediator with influence on shaping the new regional arrangement that Trump seeks to establish.