Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will travel to Egypt this week to meet with President Hosni Mubarak. It is likely that Netanyahu will also meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah II before he flies out for his May 18 meeting in Washington D.C. with U.S. President Barack Obama.
The Iranian nuclear threat is likely to feature heavily on the agenda at both meetings.
The prime minister will be joined by National Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer at his meeting with Mubarak, set to take place Monday at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Ben-Eliezer reportedly enjoys good relations with both Mubarak and Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.
It is not yet clear when Netanyahu will meet with Abdullah II, although the Prime Minister’s Office indicated it was unlikely the two men would get together before Wednesday.
Netanyahu reportedly will pitch both Arab leaders on working together with Israel to contain the Iranian nuclear threat, explaining that the Islamic Republic is attempting to impose its own agenda on the region.
He is also expected to sketch out initial details of Israel’s policy toward the Palestinian Authority at his meetings with Abdullah II and Mubarak. U.S. Persian Gulf envoy Dennis Ross met with Mubarak and other regional leaders last week after talks with Iranian officials, but unlike his predecessors, did not stop to brief Jerusalem before heading back to Washington D.C.