[Al Arabiya Latest] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt on Monday on his first trip abroad since taking office as Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas announced that a new Palestinian government would be formed within 48 hours.The hawkish Israeli premier will meet Mubarak in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, a week before heading to Washington to meet United States President Barack Obama, who has vowed to vigorously pursue Middle East peacemaking.
Netanyahu will try to secure the support of its main Arab ally for Israeli efforts to halt arch-foe Iran's nuclear drive, which the premier said he considers the main threat now faced by the Jewish state, but which Tehran says is for energy production.
"Netanyahu will tell Mubarak that Israel and the moderate Arab states should act together in the face of the common threat posed by Iran, which is trying to acquire nuclear weapons and interfere in the region," a senior official told AFP.