CAIRO: US Vice President Mike Pence told Egypt’s leader the US would support a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians if the two sides agreed to it, seeking to reassure a key Arab ally over President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
It is the highest-level visit by a US official to the region since December, when Trump upended decades of US policy on Jerusalem in a move opposed by Arab leaders including Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
“We heard President El-Sisi out,” Pence told reporters after their meeting, saying the Egyptian leader described his objection to Trump’s decision as a “disagreement between friends.”
Pence said he assured El-Sisi that the US was committed to preserving the status quo of holy sites in Jerusalem and had come to no final resolution on boundaries for the two parties. “My perception was that he was encouraged by that message,” Pence said.
The Egyptian presidency said in a statement that El-Sisi noted that only negotiations based on a two-state solution could bring an end to the conflict, “and Egypt would spare no effort to support this.”
Pence said he also pressed El-Sisi about two Americans who have been imprisoned in Egypt since 2013, as well as for reform of Egypt’s restrictive laws on non-governmental organizations.
In his meeting with Egypt’s president, Pence pledged firm US backing in the nation’s fight against militants and said ties between the two countries had never been stronger after a period of “drifting apart.”
“We stand shoulder to shoulder with you in Egypt in the fight against terrorism,” Pence told El-Sisi.
Egypt has faced security problems, including attacks by Daesh militants in the North Sinai region. Trump has made the fight against Daesh a top priority.
Though Pence intends to discuss counterterrorism throughout the trip, the Jerusalem decision remains a hot topic. Trump’s announcement, which also set in motion the process of moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, prompted Palestinians to reject the US as a peace broker.
Pence will end his trip in Israel, where he will be warmly welcomed following Trump’s designation. He plans to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, address the Israeli legislature and visit the Western Wall.
Pence is not scheduled to meet Palestinian leaders. They were incensed by Trump’s decision on Jerusalem, which upended the longstanding US position that negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians must determine the city’s status.
“The United States of America is deeply committed to restarting the peace process in the Middle East,” Pence told reporters.
The Trump administration’s announcement on Thursday that it was withholding about half the aid it was set to give a UN relief agency that serves the Palestinians raised questions about fledgling US efforts to revive peace talks and further undermined Arabs’ hope that the US can act as an impartial arbitrator. Pence also plans to visit US troops while he is in the region.