Egyptian President Calls on Netanyahu, Abbas to Meet in Paris

JERUSALEM, Israel – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during the French peace initiative on June 3.

The French rescheduled the first of two conferences to accommodate U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who could not attend over the Memorial Day weekend.

Neither Israeli nor Palestinian Authority prime ministers were invited to join some 20 international foreign ministers to discuss the peace process, which the P.A. ended in April 2014.

Following Monday’s meeting between Netanyahu and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Netanyahu said he would welcome a meeting with Abbas on the sidelines of the French conference.

Egypt, meanwhile, has been working behind closed doors to encourage a meeting between Netanyahu and Abbas in Paris.

Earlier in the month, el-Sisi called on both parties to take part in what he described as “a real opportunity for peace.”

Speaking in what appeared to be an impromptu message on Egyptian TV, el-Sisi asked Israel to air his speech “at least once or twice.”

“There is a real opportunity for peace even if in the short term there is no real basis given the conditions in the region,” el-Sisi said, citing the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel as an example of what could be done.

Unlike the Egyptian president, P.A. Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah dismissed Netanyahu's offer, accusing him of trying to "buy time" and predicting he would not "escape the international community." Hamdallah made the comments during Vall's visit to Ramallah.