Egypt's tense relationship with Israel was to be addressed by Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel during her meeting with Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi in Berlin Wednesday, her spokesman, Steffen Seibert, told reporters.
Morsi and his party arrived at Merkel's office to begin just over one hour of talks, to be followed by a news conference, dpa reported.
Minutes earlier, the spokesman had said, "The topic of the Middle East, the topic of Egypt's relationship with Israel, will definitely be up for discussion."
German media have carried reports that Morsi allegedly called Zionists "blood suckers" in 2010, long before his election, when he was an Islamist leader. Last week Seibert commented, "whichever side they come from, aggressive or hurtful remarks are not helpful."