Israel's acting foreign minister, Shlomo Ben Ami, left for Egypt on Thursday in a new diplomatic push to advance peacemaking with the Palestinians.
He is due to hold talks in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria with President Hosni Mubarak and Foreign Minister Amr Moussa amid extensive Egyptian efforts to bridge the Israeli-Palestinian divide.
Ben Ami told reporters on Wednesday that the two sides have made progress on some of the key issues standing in the way of an accord such as borders, security and Jewish settlements, but that they were not ready for a new peace summit.
"We are hopeful; we are working, but we cannot say yet there is a platform ... to enable us to jump to a summit, not yet," Ben Ami said.
Intense diplomatic efforts involving the United States and Egypt, in particular, have been underway to try to bridge the gaps dividing the two sides following the failure of the Camp David summit last month over the key sticking point of Jerusalem.
The two sides face a self-imposed September 13th deadline for a final peace accord on Jerusalem as well as the other key issues of settlements, borders, Palestinian refugees and water.
Ben Ami said he expected to hear Egyptian "ideas" about settling the fate of Jerusalem, describing Cairo's role in the peace process as "positive and constructive."
On his return to Israel later Thursday afternoon, Ben Ami is due to meet Norwegian Foreign Minister Thorbjoern Jagland, who is flying in from Egypt for a two-day visit.
Meanwhile, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat will visit Egypt for his fifth trip since Camp David ended in failure on July 25th.
Egypt's state-run news agency MENA quoted diplomatic sources as saying the two leaders would "evaluate all the ideas and views put forward to save the peace process" and discuss "ways of overcoming the current challenges." - OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
