Brussels, 08/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is travelling to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt on Monday 11 May 2009 to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. This meeting, confirmed by both sides, will be the first meeting between Israel under its new prime minister and Egypt, and will also be Netanyahu's first foreign visit. Jerusalem Post describes it as a “strategic choice” because the fact that Netanyahu has decided to travel to Egypt before going to the United States on 17 May is a sign of the importance of Israel's relations with Egypt in his view, which were strained after the appointment of Israel's leader of Beiteinou, Avigdor Lieberman, as foreign minister. Israel is reported by the Jerusalem Post to be keen to renew contact with Egypt in order to gain clarifications about plans reported in the Arab press to launch a new Arab peace initiative to replace the 2002 Arab initiative. Al-Quds al-Arabi reports that several Arab leaders have drawn up a detailed plan, which includes measures on the status of Jerusalem. Arab media reports suggest the plan is being encouraged by President Obama.
Israeli media have reported on a meeting between Tony Blair and Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday 6 May 2009, where Netanyahu announced that he was setting up a ministerial committee to decide on the conditions for a recovery plan for the Palestinian authority and improving living conditions in the occupied territories. The committee will comprise the Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak, foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, finance minister Yuval Steinitz and regional development minister for the Negev desert region and Galilee Silvan Shalom. (F.B./transl.fl)