Egyptian army justifies Israel visit

The Egyptian Army spokesman said Saturday that the recent visit by Egyptian army officials to Israel aimed at discussing border security based on the peace agreement, and that it did not address any issued related to military cooperation as some media outlets suggested.

The statement came days after Israeli media reported that an Egyptian army delegation visited Israel last week to take part in joint meetings.

Israeli newspapers linked the visit to Israel’s attempts to convince the US not to cancel the sale of 10 Apache helicopters to Egypt to enhance its anti-terrorism efforts in Sinai.

Egyptian army spokesman Ahmed Ali said in the Facebook statement that the meeting came within the framework of regular coordination between the Israeli and Egyptian sides, and that its purpose was to discuss border security efforts based on the 1979 peace treaty.

He pointed out that Egypt and Israel have been holding three meetings a year since 1982. One of the meetings is held in Cairo, another in Tel Aviv, and a third in Roma at the end of the year, since Roma is the headquarters of the multinational forces that oversee the implementation of the peace agreement.

He also stressed that the photo used by some media outlets, also used by Middle East Monitor, is old and has not been taken at last week’s meeting.