JERUSALEM: Benjamin Netanyahu will make his first trip to Egypt as Israeli prime minister during the first half of May for talks with President Hosni Mubarak, according to an Israeli government statement late Thursday.
In the month since Netanyahu took office, there have been signs of strain between Israel and Egypt, mostly over the appointment of hard-liner Avigdor Lieberman as foreign minister. Lieberman once cursed Mubarak from the parliament podium for refusing to visit Israel.
The statement from Netanyahu s office said he accepted an invitation from Mubarak for talks before Netanyahu s trip to Washington to see President Barack Obama, set tentatively for May 18.
An exact place and date for the Mubarak-Netanyahu meeting have not been set, the statement said.
There was no immediate comment from Egypt.
Egypt became the first Arab nation to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. Relations between the two countries have never been warm, but Egypt has played a key role as mediator in many rounds of talks between Israel and Arab parties over the years. Egypt is the go-between now between Israel and the Islamic Hamas rulers of Gaza.
Mubarak has said often that the solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict must include an independent Palestinian state next to Israel. Netanyahu has not endorsed that view, pointing to Gaza as a precedent and warning that turning over land the Palestinians can bring violent extremists to power, endangering Israel.
However, Netanyahu has said several times since assuming power that he sees Egypt as a central factor in Mideast stability and peacemaking. -AP
