Egypt, Israel enjoy 'unprecedented' level of intelligence cooperation

Israel has seen "unprecedented" intelligence cooperation with Egypt and Jordan as the fight against the Islamic State group nudges them to work together more closely, a military chief said Wednesday.

Major General Yair Golan said "there is a strong feeling in the region... that we have to put aside past animosities and concentrate on mutual interests and working together" to deal with the threat from the militant group.

The Israeli military's deputy chief of staff spoke of an "unprecedented level of cooperation" mainly regarding intelligence.

"But that's between defence establishments, and I wouldn't describe that as some sort of reconciliation between the people," Golan said at a news conference for foreign journalists.

"But it is a good starting point, and I'm quite optimistic concerning that."

Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab countries that have signed peace treaties with Israel.

In Februray, one of Israel's leading journalists and national security analysts said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is a "strategic treasure" for Israel.

Security and intelligence affairs commentator for the Israeli dailyMaariv, Yossi Melman said that the chief of the Israeli Security Agency Yoram Cohen is a "familiar figure" among the Egyptian intelligence officials and has frequently visited Egypt.

The Israeli intelligence chief also visited Cairo during his country's aggression on Gaza in 2014 to discuss the ongoing war and Hamas, according to Melman.

Last year, the Egyptian president was forced to backtrack on comments in which he called for Egypt's peace treaty with Israel to be expanded to include more Arab countries.

The Associated Press quoted Sisi as saying: "Efforts should be renewed to solve the Palestinian issue and expand Egypt's nearly 40-year peace with Israel to include more Arab countries."

However, a presidential spokesman later said that Sisi's comments were "mistranslated" and that he was merely talking about the positive results of the peace treaty on the region.