Pictured Above: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi (right) in New York on Sept. 18, 2017. Credit: Avi Ohayon/GPO.

(JNS.org) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said that he believes a peace deal can be reached between Israel and the Palestinians.

“We are trying, together with all sides who can contribute their part to this issue. The United States is the main world power that can steer the peace process toward a better future,” El-Sisi told the London-based Arabic daily newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.

“We, the Arabs, can convince public opinion in Israel of the advantages of peace. The benefits gained following the agreement between Egypt and Israel are evidence of that. Finding a solution to the Palestinian issue will bring about a new situation in the region. Our brothers in the Gulf states understand this issue,” he said.

The Egyptian president’s statements came a day after he met with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas in the Sinai Peninsula for discussions on advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

Egypt has played a mediating role between Israel and the Palestinians amid new U.S.-led regional peace efforts. El-Sisi’s government has also arbitrated between rival Palestinian factions—the PA-ruling Fatah party and the Gaza-controlling terror group Hamas—throughout their current attempt to form a unity government.

Meanwhile, El-Sisi told CNBC last weekend that he will not seek a third term as president, choosing to uphold Egypt’s constitutional maximum of two four-year terms.

“It doesn’t suit me as a president to stay one more day against the will of the Egyptians,” he said. “We will not interfere with [the constitution].”

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