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Israeli PM to Discuss Palestinian Talks With Mubarak

   VOA News 11 July 2010
   Israeli  Prime  Minister  Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet
   meeting in his Jerusalem office (File Photo - 04 Jul 2010)

Photo: AP

   Israeli  Prime  Minister  Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet
   meeting in his Jerusalem office (File Photo - 04 Jul 2010)

   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he plans to ask Egypt's
   leader for help to promote direct peace talks with the Palestinians.

   Mr.  Netanyahu said at a Cabinet meeting Sunday that he will meet with
   President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt on Tuesday.

   The  Israeli  leader  said last week after meeting with U.S. President
   Barack  Obama  in  Washington  that it is "high time" for direct talks
   between Israel and the Palestinians to begin.

   However,  Palestinian  President  Mahmoud Abbas says direct talks with
   Israel at the present time would be a waste of time.

   Mr.  Abbas says direct talks cannot be resumed until there is progress
   in  U.S.-brokered  "proximity  talks"  on  the  issues  of borders and
   security.

   U.S.  special envoy George Mitchell has been shuttling between the two
   sides in a series of indirect talks.

   Mr.  Netanyahu  and  Mr.  Mubarak  last  met  in  early  May  in Sharm
   el-Sheikh,  Egypt,  a  few days before the start of the indirect peace
   talks  -  the first between Israel and the Palestinians in more than a
   year.

   Egypt  and  Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979, and meetings between
   high-ranking  officials  of  the  two  countries  are  common. But the
   Egyptian  media and public are largely hostile to Israel, particularly
   concerning its policies toward the Palestinians.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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