Netanyahu: Israel Expects Future Cooperation with Egypt’s President

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday Israel expected future cooperation with the new administration of Egypt’s Islamist President-elect Mohamed Morsi.

“We expect to work together with the new administration on the basis of our peace treaty,” Netanyahu told reporters after a meeting with visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I believe that peace is important to Israel. I believe that peace is important to Egypt. I believe that peace is a vital interest for both countries and I believe that peace is the foundation of stability in our region,” Netanyahu said, echoing a written statement issued by his office a day earlier.

An Israeli official, speaking earlier on condition of anonymity, said the Netanyahu government hoped Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood’s parliamentary bloc would put the need to tend to Egypt’s ailing economy ahead of any revision of bilateral ties.

U.S. aid to Cairo hinges on keeping the peace with Israel.

“Looks like we were right when we said the Arab Spring would become an ‘Islamic Winter’, even though Western nations laughed us off at the time,” the Israeli official said.

But he added that he hoped the Egyptian government would “try to be statesmanlier, by working in the interests of the country”, according to Reuters.