After a two-decade absence at summits of this type, Israel hopes that its appearance Monday — even in a limited capacity — will signal to Arab states a desire for dialogue, Reuters reported.

“We think that this is the time for all moderate countries to sit and discuss the problems that everyone is facing in the region,” an Israeli official, who requested anonymity, told the news outlet Sunday.

Israel is one of the few remaining non-signatories to the NPT, and holds a large nuclear arsenal, according to foreign media reports. It has chafed at efforts over recent years from Arab states and some European countries to push it into signing the treaty and opening up its nuclear holdings.

Israel began protesting in 1995 after a number of resolutions were directed against it, including an Egyptian resolution that called on Israel to sign the NPT out of “deep concern at the continued existence in the Middle East of unsafeguarded Israeli nuclear facilities.”

But Israel has grown closer to Egypt and other Arab states in the past few years with the rise of mutual enemies — notably, Hamas and Iran.

“I see this, coming as an observer to the conference now, as trying to demonstrate our good faith in terms of having such a conversation,” the official went on. “We need direct negotiations between the regional parties, a regional security conversation, a conversation based on consensus. This (attendance at the NPT conference) is meant not to change our policy. It’s meant to emphasize our policy.”

Saudi Arabia has quietly lobbied against Iranian nuclear plans, as have other Sunni Arab countries, concerned about the Shiite country’s ambitions.

Israel, according to the senior official, hopes the summit, which will last from April 27 to May 22, will be an opportunity to find common ground with those countries.

The review of the 1970 treaty takes place every five years.

Egypt, which introduced the 1995 resolution that targeted Israel specifically, is now adopting a gentler tone, possibly due to the two countries’ increased military cooperation in fighting Hamas.

“Our initiative for a Middle East free of nonconventional weapons is a principle,” an Egyptian official told Reuters on condition on anonymity. “It will not change. But nothing is against Israel itself. It’s for everyone — Iran, Israel, everyone.”