Conference of Presidents Chair Dianne Lob and CEO William Daroff on Thursday held what they described as “a very productive and engaging communal meeting” with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.
In a statement posted to his Twitter account, Daroff wrote, “The meeting focused on issues of mutual interest: the relationships between Egypt and the United States and Israel, as well as regional security issues.”
“We stated our unequivocal appreciation to President Sisi for his leadership in ensuring a safe, secure, and stable region. We also thanked him for safeguarding and enhancing the peace and security cooperation between Egypt and Israel,” he added.
“I also raised the issue of the Israelis who are being held captive by Hamas in Gaza: Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, and the bodies of two soldiers, Hadar Goldin, z"l, and Oron Shaul, z"l, and reiterated the importance of their return to the American Jewish community.”
“Lastly, I stated our support for highlighting to the Biden Administration and Congressional leaders the importance of US financial and military assistance to Egypt as a means of safeguarding American national security,” concluded Daroff.
A spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency said in a statement posted to the website of the Presidency that “the meeting witnessed consensus and emphasized the depth of the strategic relations between Egypt and the United States, while stressing the importance of intensifying cooperation and coordination between the two friendly countries on various international issues.”
The President “assured the leaders of American Jewish organizations that resolving the Palestinian issue will represent a huge step in the history of the region and help begin a new phase of peace, cooperation, development, and peaceful coexistence. He added that Egypt will continue to support any sincere effort that ensures a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue, based on the resolutions of the international legitimacy and the two-state solution in a manner that guarantees the inherent rights of the Palestinian people,” the statement added.
“The leaders of the American Jewish organizations expressed their deep appreciation for Egypt’s efforts, led by President Al-Sisi, towards establishing the principles of peace and calm in the region and spreading the spirit of cooperation. This is in addition to combating extremism, hate speech and terrorism and embracing development issues. They congratulated the President on the success of the recent World Climate Summit (COP27) recently held in Sharm El-Sheikh,” it concluded.
Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. Sisi has in the past urged Israelis and Palestinian Arabs to seize what he said was a "real opportunity" for peace and hailed his own country's peace deal with Israel.
He repeated his call for a resumption of peace talks between Israel and the PA in September of 2018.
The Egyptian President, who has been in office since 2014, has met with leaders of the Conference of Presidents in the past. One such meeting took place in 2016 and was described as a "very productive discussion".