The delegation of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations met with Sisi for two hours in Cairo.
By SAM SOKOLUpdated: FEBRUARY 12, 2016 00:05LEADERS OF THE Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations pose with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo yesterday.(photo credit: Courtesy)
A delegation of American Jewish leaders held an “open and very productive discussion” with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Thursday as part of their tour through the region.The delegation of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations met with Sisi for two hours in Cairo.They discussed a “wide range of domestic and international issues, including US-Egyptian and Israeli-Egyptian relations, regional threats, especially those posed by terrorist organizations and their supporters, and Iran” post nuclear deal, the group said in a statement.The Conference leadership said that they had an “open and very productive discussion and that they were impressed by the President’s analysis on a wide variety of issues.”The delegation also met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week, along with the head of the local Jewish community against the backdrop of efforts by Ankara to improve strained ties with Jerusalem.In recent weeks, Erdogan has expressed an interest in renewing ties ruptured over Israel’s 2009 war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and then a deadly Israeli raid in 2010 on a Turkish aid ship attempting to breach Israel’s blockade of Gaza.During Israel’s 2014 war in Gaza, Erdogan sparked outrage with his demand that Turkish Jewry “release a statement against the Israeli government.”Conference leaders head to Jerusalem next week for an annual conference to be attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and other senior political figures.JTA contributed to this report.