Special Report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts         

    JERUSALEM, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Israel's upcoming government is trying to warm up relations with Egypt that has been chilled by recent remarks by would-be foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, local media reported Sunday.

    In a telltale sign of the diplomatic nuisance, the reports revealed that designated senior officials in the new administration, which would likely be instated within two weeks, have recently been holding talks with Egyptian officials aimed to ease the bilateral tensions.

    In September, Lieberman criticized Mubarak for his alleged unwillingness to visit Israel and told Mubarak to "go to hell" if he continued to decline to visit the Jewish state.

    Israeli TV Channel 2 reported Saturday night that Egypt had setan ultimatum for Lieberman to make an apology and even threatened to boycott the would-be top Israeli diplomat, who also triggered bitter controversy at home due to his tough stance on Israeli Arabs.

    Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman Yossi Levy later denied the TV report by saying that "there is consistent contact on a number of levels between the Foreign Minister-designate and the Egyptian government, in order to continue the trend of good relations between the countries," according to local news service Ynet.

    The Jewish state has maintained a fairly benign relationship with Egypt since the latter became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. Meanwhile, Cairo often functions as a middleman between Israel and the Palestinians, particularly the Hamas movement. Yet the ties were notably strained after Lieberman's remarks over Mubarak.

    The issue has been blown "completely out of proportion" and Egypt is interested in keeping good relations with Israel, even with Lieberman being the foreign minister, said concerned Israeli officials.