Israeli Foreign Minister Invites Egyptian President to Visit

The best way for newly-elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy to demonstrate his stated intention to safeguard the historic 1979 treaty between Israel and Egypt is to visit the Jewish state, according to Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. In an interview with the Reuters news agency several days ago, Morsy indicated that the pact was safe, although his reference to forming a more “balanced” foreign policy is being widely interpreted as meaning a lesser role for the US than existed under Hosni Mubarak and a greater role in the Iranian axis. During the Reuters interview, Morsy did not refer to Israel by name, only as Egypt’s “neighbor.” Lieberman expressed his hope that Morsy would follow the example set my Mubarak who frequently hosted Israeli diplomats in Cairo. He suggested going farther than Mubarak by actually visiting Israel as a guest of President Shimon Peres – something Mubarak refused to do.