(MENAFN- Gulf Times) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Egypt yesterday at the start of a three-day visit to the Middle East as violence flares between Israelis and Palestinians, and with Iran and Ukraine high on the agenda.
Blinken heads today to Jerusalem, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new right-wing government has stirred concern at home and abroad over the future of Israel's secular values, fraying relations with the Arab population and deadlock in peace talks with the Palestinians. On Thursday, Israeli forces killed nine people in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, the deadliest raid there in years.
In talks with the new Israeli administration, which includes ultra-nationalist parties that want to expand West Bank settlements, Blinken will repeat US calls for calm and emphasise Washington's support for a two-state solution, although US
officials admit peace talks are not likely soon.
Blinken will also travel to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Netanyahu's government has proposed a sweeping overhaul of the judiciary that would strengthen political control over the appointment of judges while weakening the Supreme Court's ability to overturn laws or strike down government action.
The proposals have triggered big demonstrations against what protesters see as the undermining of judicial independence.
Blinken will hear from people inside and outside of government on the reforms, Barbara Leaf, the top state department official for the Middle East, added.
Diplomats will also discuss US efforts to revive the stalled 2015 deal between big powers and Iran, opposed by Israel, that lifted international sanctions in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear programme.
Blinken yesterday met with Egyptian youth leaders at the American University in Cairo, and told reporters he wanted to strengthen Washington's“strategic partnership” with Egypt.
Blinken will meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry today, and discuss issues such as Sudan's stuttering transition to democracy and elections in Libya, the state department said.
Blinken will also be under pressure to raise human rights concerns.
The Biden administration has withheld some military aid to Egypt over its failure to meet human rights conditions, although advocacy groups have pushed for more to be withheld.
Most of the $1.3bn in military aid that Washington sends to Egypt each year remains intact and the US says Sisi's government has made progress on reducing political detentions.
Sisi, who became president in 2014, has said Egypt holds no political prisoners, and argues that security is paramount and that the government is promoting human rights by working to provide basic needs such as jobs and housing.
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