Israeli officials protested Egypt’s continued use of unmanned aerial drones to spy on defense facilities in meetings with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher in Jerusalem on Monday.

According to weekend media reports, the diplomatic thawing between the nations evidenced by Mahler’s first official visit in more than two years is accompanied by growing military tensions.

Israel has reportedly threatened to shoot down the reconnaissance drones detected in recent weeks over Israeli nuclear research facilities and missile test sites, even as diplomats are trying to prepare the ground for a major summit between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Israeli premier Ariel Sharon.

For his part Maher expressed Egyptian concern about Sharon’s plan to “disengage” from the territories as outlined to the Herzliya security conference last Thursday, warning against any prospective “unilateral” moves, and to call on Israel to follow Libya’s lead and declare its intention to dismantle its alleged weapons of mass destruction.

Friday’s shock announcement from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi that his nation was close to producing a nuclear bomb but was prepared to dismantle its weapons program in exchange for the lifting of tough international sanctions imposed in the wake of the Lockerbie Pan Am bombing, has once again afforded Arab nations an opportunity to attack Israel on its alleged nuclear program.

Welcoming the Libyan declaration on Sunday Mubarak, lost no time in pressing the point. “Israel must also eliminate its weapons of mass destruction,” he said. Egypt has long argued that Israel?s purported possession of nuclear weapons threatens to destabilize the entire Middle East.

Sharon meanwhile extended Mubarak an invitation to visit Israel, and welcomed Maher’s visit. “I am sure that this visit will contribute to the strengthening of relations between Egypt and Israel. We have an interest in this. Egypt is the biggest and most important country in the Middle East,” he told the Associated Press. “I hope this visit will contribute to our relationship with the Palestinian Authority and our efforts to reach a peace agreement,” he added.

Speaking at a press conference outside the Foreign Ministry where he met with Minister Silvan Shalom, Maher said that ceasefire talks between Palestinian groups, aimed at halting attacks against Israelis, are not dead. Israeli leaders told Maher that Israel would not enter into a ceasefire deal with Palestinian terror groups, but if there was quiet, Israel would respond in kind.

Sharon also raised the issue of Azzam Azzam, the Israeli Druse held in an Egyptian prison for espionage, according to The Jerusalem Post.. Maher said he would convey Israel’s wish for Azzam’s release to Mubarak.