Netanyahu Talks Peace In Cairo

On his first visit to an Arab country as Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu brought words of peace Thursday to a region shaken by his election victory two months ago.

While the Israeli leader took no major steps to push forward the stalled Middle East peace process, he went out of his way to praise his Egyptian hosts, particularly President Hosni Mubarak, and took pains to at least speak the language of peace.

“We agreed that we must intensify our efforts to expand the circle of peace, which of course is important for both Israel and Egypt and the entire region,” Netanyahu said after a two-hour meeting with Mubarak. “We believe that the peace should be based on the idea of fulfilling existing commitments.”