Newly elected Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi sent President Shimon Peres a brief note Tuesday, marking the first time he has had formal contact with Israel's leaders.
The note arrived just hours before US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in Cairo for talks with Mursi. The US has made clear to the new Egyptian government that it expects it to live up to all its international commitments, including the peace treaty with Israel.
Mursi made no reference to the treaty in his note, which was in response to a message Peres sent him on the eve of Ramadan -- which began last Friday -- sending greetings for the holiday.
"H.E. Mr. Shimon Peres, President of the State of Israel," Mursi's note read. "It was with deep thanks that I received your congratulations on the advent of the Holy Month of Ramadan.
"I take this opportunity to reiterate that I am looking forward to exerting our best efforts to getting the Middle East Peace Process back to its right track in order to achieve security and stability for peoples of the region including that Israeli people."
Peres' letter on the eve of Ramadan was his second letter to Mursi. He also wrote him last week following Mursi's election victory. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu also sent a letter at the time to Mursi. Both letters stressed the importance of maintaining the 1979 peace agreement.
“As someone who took part in the process that led to the peace agreement that was signed between my country and yours, I know that both Egypt and Israel attribute supreme importance to regional peace and stability – which serve the interests of all peoples in the region,” Peres wrote at the time.
“All of us in Israel greatly respect Egypt and the Egyptian people, who have served as pioneers and have outlined the way of peace and reconciliation in the region, and we know that the work is not yet finished,” he said.
Mursi, after he was sworn into power, stressed in a speech that he would stand by the Palestinian people until they regained their rights. At the same time, he also said that Egypt would respect its international treaties.

JPost.com