Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, saying that successful talks would lead to peace between Israel and more Arab countries.

In an interview with the Associated Press Sunday, Sisi said that resolving the Palestinian issue could “change the face of the region and … bring about enormous improvement to the situation. … I’m optimistic by nature and I say that there is a great opportunity.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is pushing for immediate peace talks without preconditions, praised Sisi’s comments and called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “to return immediately to the negotiating table to advance the diplomatic process.”

American-sponsored peace talks ended last year when Abbas refused to accept a framework agreement presented by the United States, signed fifteen international agreements in an effort to achieve achieve statehood outside of bilateral negotiations (the premise of the peace process since at least 1993), and then announced a unity government with the terrorist group Hamas, which rejects Israel’s right to exist.

[Photo: Ruptly TV / YouTube]