US Vice President Mike Pence met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Saturday as he began a delayed Middle East tour overshadowed by Arab anger over Washington's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Controversy over President Donald Trump's decision to move the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem had led to the cancellation of a number of planned meetings ahead of the trip originally scheduled for December.
A coalition of Arab parties in the Israeli parliament said on Saturday it would boycott a speech by Pence on Monday, calling him "dangerous and messianic". Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, said that the vice president was "not welcome" in the region. After dinner he will travel to Amman for a one-on-one meeting with King Abdullah II on Sunday before heading to Israel for the final leg of the tour.
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