Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, addressing the Arab League summit in Baghdad today, called on President Donald Trump to “exert all necessary efforts and pressures to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,” and then help to bring about a lasting peace in the region, as the United States had done to bring about peace between Egypt and Israel in the 1970s. Were President Trump to achieve a ceasefire, that would pave “the way for a serious political process—in which he [Trump] acts as a mediator and sponsor—that leads to a final settlement achieving lasting peace, akin to the historic role the United States played in achieving peace between Egypt and Israel in the 1970s,” President el-Sisi proposed.
El-Sisi bluntly dismissed, however, any idea that the path to peace lies solely in Arab nations establishing relations with Israel. “Even if Israel succeeds in reaching normalization agreements with all Arab countries, a lasting, just, and comprehensive peace in the Middle East will remain out of reach unless a Palestinian state is established as per international legitimacy resolutions,” he warned.
