The secret was kept throughout the entire weekend. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dropped the bomb at the start of his Cabinet meeting July 10: After a nine-year absence, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry was visiting Israel.
In the past, the visit of an Arab foreign minister to Jerusalem was not such a big deal. Under the current circumstances, however, including a long lack of communication between Israel and the Palestinians, a bitter political struggle and a wave of terrorism, the news from Jerusalem spread quickly across the Middle East.