President Abdelfattah El Sisi, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, and intelligence chief Khaled Fawzy met with a delegation from the US Business Executives for National Security (BENS), a US non-profit in the defense industry. The meeting discussed regional developments in general, including Palestinian-Israeli relations, according to Al Masry Al Youm. Both parties also discussed bilateral relations, according to Ittihadiya spokesperson Alaa Youssef. BENS’ Founding Chairman Stanley Weiss, who hails from the mining industry, authored an op-ed in 2015 in support of El Sisi’s government in which, among other things, he was critical of the US State Department’s meeting with members of the Muslim Brotherhood in the same year. BENS previously sent a delegation to Egypt last year. The organization focuses on evolving threats, which include energy and fragile states, along with increasing the US military’s efficiencies and operational effectiveness.