Middle East envoy George Mitchell of the United States met in private with President Shimon Peres Monday afternoon, following Mitchell's return to Israel from Egypt. The two discussed the Arab-Israeli peace process, the Iranian nuclear threat and the strengthening of American-Israeli relations.

While in Cairo, Mitchell said that the U.S. is meeting with many Arab leaders to encourage normalization with Israel but added, "we recognize that will come further down the road in this process."