ISRAELI FM TO MAKE EGYPT, FIRST VISIT ABROAD

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 000432

SIPDIS

NSC STAFF FOR SINGH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2016
TAGS: PREL IS EG
SUBJECT: ISRAELI FM TO MAKE EGYPT, FIRST VISIT ABROAD



1. (c) Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will come to
Egypt -- her first official trip outside of Israel as
minister-- for a one-day visit February 1 at the invitation
of Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit. Israeli Ambassador
to Egypt Shalom Cohen told Ambassador January 25 that the
visit had come about as a positive reaction to Aboul Gheit's
well-received congratulatory call to Livni the day after her
appointment. In that call Aboul Gheit welcomed Livni and
told her that he hoped she would accept an invitation to
Egypt as her first trip abroad. Livni will meet President
Mubarak and Aboul Gheit and participate in a lunch before
returning to Israel the same day. Ambassador Cohen suggested
this visit would be kept somewhat low-key (as with previous
senior Israeli visitors) but that his hope was that she could
return in the near future for a visit with a much fuller
schedule.


2. (c) Commenting on Aboul Gheit, Ambassador Cohen noted
that the GOI, while finding him somewhat bureaucratic and
occasionally arrogant, gave the Egyptian Foreign Minister
major credit for working assiduously to implement Mubarak's
drive to strengthen the Egyptian-Israeli relationship.

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