Netanyahu "to persuade Egypt to drop proposal for nuclear-free zone"

Reports in Israel’s Hebrew press claim that Benjamin Netanyahu is hoping to persuade Egypt to drop its proposal to make the Middle East a “nuclear-free zone”. The Israeli Prime Minister was due to meet Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak in Sharm al-Sheikh to discuss the forthcoming “proximity” talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

According to Maariv newspaper, Netanyahu will ask President Mubarak to drop the nuclear-free zone plan, arguing that “Israel is not the problem, Iran’s nuclear programme is, and it threatens Egypt as well as Israel”.