By Itzhak Rabihiya
Egypt is celebrating it's 67th anniversary of its revolution
PM Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin met with the Egyptian ambassador to celebrate Egypt's 67th National Day on Wednesday.
"We are celebrating 40 years of peace between Israel and Egypt," Netanyahu said at the embassy. "Our two countries, and many other countries, are fighting extremism, violence and terrorism. I would like to commend my colleague President al-Sisi for standing firmly against this wave of extremism and terrorism." Netanyahu also spoke of the various collaborations between Israel and Egypt.
"At this moment we are conducting a pilot - Israeli gas flowing into Egypt - and in another four months it will be even more," Netanyahu continued. "We have commitments to security. We enjoy the prosperity and peace between us, and we would like to see more comprehensive peace."
The officials were invited as guests by Ambassador Khaled Azmi to the Egyptian embassy in Tel Aviv. Rivlin spoke at the embassy and began his speech by thanking President Abd-al Fattah al-Sisi for his help in strengthening relations between Israel and Egypt.
President Rivlin said, "Egypt remains a leader of the Arab world. Its leadership carries responsibility, as your country exhibits in Gaza every day. It also carries power. May that power be used to advance peace, freedom and equality."
Egypt's National Day is the anniversary of the Revolution of 1952 that led to the declaration of the modern republic of Egypt.
This event comes just two weeks after Rivlin hosted an event celebrating 40 years of peace between the two countries. Before Egypt and Israel came to a peace agreement, former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat came to Israel in 1977. He was the first and only Arab leader to visit Israel and address the Knesset.
During Sadat's visit in Israel, he went to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Yad Vashem before going to the Knesset.
Today many Israelis visit Sinai for vacation, but much fewer Egyptians come visit Israel. Israel also relies on Egypt's help when negotiating ceasefire agreements with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Attached photo credit: Kobi Gideon (GPO)
