Israeli-Egyptian meetings mark rapprochement progress
The expected visit to Israel in a few days of Egyptian Intelligence Chief Abbas Kamel reflects the trend of rapprochement in recent months between Jerusalem and Cairo.
No one was surprised by this week’s announcement that head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate Abbas Kamel is expected to visit Israel in the near future. This comes in the wake of a highly publicized Sept. 13 meeting between Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his Egyptian counterpart, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, and a trip to Cairo by the heads of the National Security Council and the Shin Bet Nov. 14. And so, Kamel’s expected visit is the natural outcome of a warming in the relationship between Jerusalem and Cairo.
The latest developments in this relationship are dramatic. They come after four decades of a cold, and some might even say disaffected, peace between the two countries, at least in terms of their public statements. Behind the scenes, the two countries actually drew significantly closer over the last few years, particularly over matters of security. Reciprocal visits between high-level officials had become a matter of routine.
