Israel, Egypt ministers hold rare meet on nuke summit sidelines

Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz met Thursday with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry to discuss regional issues, including gas development and preventing “radioactive terrorism.”

The meeting between the two officials marked the highest level convention of senior ministers in both countries since the ouster of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, following the 2011 uprising in the country.

The two met in Washington, where they are set to attend a top-level nuclear security summit hosted by President Barack Obama in Washington on Thursday and Friday.

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“The meeting dealt with regional issues, the possibility of providing Israeli gas to Egyptian liquefaction facilities, and international cooperation in preventing radioactive terrorism,” a statement from Steinitz’s office said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on October 30, 2015 (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

Official relations between Jerusalem and Cairo have been relatively warm since President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi took power in 2013, after the ouster of Islamist former president Mohammed Morsi.

Sissi’s government has closely allied with Israel on key security issues, including Egypt’s war against Islamic State-affiliated jihadists in Sinai and on both countries’ blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

However, an Egyptian lawmaker was kicked out of parliament earlier this year after it emerged he ate dinner with Israel’s new envoy to Cairo, underlining still-fraught ties between the countries.

In September 2015, Israel reopened its embassy in Egypt, four years after it was shut when a mob stormed the complex.