Former Israeli ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, told Channel 2 John Kerry was “clearly” not invited to the region to broker ceasefire talks.
But Kerry flew in anyway.
From Twitter: John Kerry headed out in middle of night for Cairo meetings on Gaza ceasefire.
The Times of Israel reported:
Michael Oren, who until recently served as Israel’s ambassador in Washington, said Monday that US envoy John Kerry was coming to the region despite Sunday’s hot-mic incident making it clear that he had not been invited.
The US secretary of state headed to Cairo Monday for discussions surrounding a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The White House said Kerry would seek “an immediate cessation of hostilities based on a return to the November 2012 ceasefire agreement,” and stressed the need to protect civilian life both “in Gaza and in Israel.”
In comments to Channel 2 on Monday afternoon, Oren cited the Obama administration’s strained relations with Egypt, and the “tension” in ties between the US and Israel. To Israel’s chagrin, he said, America has consequently not been able to play a more constructive role in this crisis, whereas previous administrations had been able to do so in past crises. He commented on the way the Administration handled the Arab spring, the blame it placed on Israel for the failure of the peace process, and the US’s strained ties with Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.