PM (Netanyahu) seeks to upgrade diplomatic role of moderate Arab states

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will travel to Egypt on Monday for his first trip abroad since taking office, a symbolic move government officials say is designed to signal the importance he places on relations with Cairo and moderates in the Arab world.

That Netanyahu is visiting Egypt even before he goes to the US, where he will travel on May 17, shows how important he feels the ties with Egypt are, one government official said. Egyptian-Israeli relations were strained earlier in the year by the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as foreign minister.

The official said the meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm e-Sheikh would also show the importance Israel attached to the involvement of moderate Arab countries in the peace process, as well as in containing Iran and its local proxies Hizbullah and Hamas.

Israel would like to see Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia play a greater role in the peace process, as well as in pushing back against Iranian efforts to make further inroads in the region, the official said.

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