President Shimon Peres met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The two held a private meeting in which they discussed several diplomatic issues, including Israel's negotiations with the Palestinian Authority and Syria, the Egyptian-mediated negotiations for the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit and ties between Israel and Egypt. During the meeting Peres praised “the spirit of the Saudi Initiative” and said Israel was promoting that spirit in its negotiations with the PA. He expressed interest in using negotiations with the PA as a springboard towards negotiations for regional peace as suggested in the Saudi Plan. Peres expressed some reservations with the plan, however, saying it would need to be negotiated further. The Saudi Initiative calls on Israel to withdraw completely from all territories regained in the 1967 Six Day War, to release all terrorist prisoners and to accept millions of foreign Arabs as citizens. In exchange, Arab states would agree to recognize Israel and make peace. Peres called on Mubarak and other Arab leaders to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran is a threat to all Middle Eastern nations, he said, and seeks to impose an extremist religious hegemony on moderate Muslim states. Moderate leaders must stand together in preventing Iran from gaining power, he said. Peres and Mubarak also discussed negotiations for the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. Shalit was kidnapped while patrolling near Gaza over two years ago, and the negotiations for his release, which are mediated by Egypt, have broken down several times. Hamas is demanding the release of 1,500 terrorists, many of whom were directly involved in murdering Israeli civilians, in exchange for Shalit's freedom. Shalit's situation might seem like merely one family's tragedy, but his captivity affects all Israelis, Peres told Mubarak. Mubarak responded by promising to make every effort to push negotiations forward. The two leaders held a press conference following the meeting in which they effusively praised each other. “Having known Mubarak for many years, I can say with confidence that if it were not for his leadership, the Middle East would not be as stable as it is today,” Peres said. “The key to making progress in the regional peace process lies in great measure in Mubarak's hands, and he is the one who can lead us to a new reality.” Mubarak replied by calling Peres “a first-rate diplomat, a man of peace, and we hope he succeeds in promoting peace.”
