Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Egyptian Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamel in Israel on Aug. 18, 2021. Source: Twitter/PMO.

(August 24, 2021 / JNS) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi invited Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for an official visit in the coming weeks, which would be the first state visit by an Israeli leader in nearly a decade.

The invitation, offered last week, comes amid the backdrop of ongoing violence emanating from the Gaza Strip, the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and the ongoing Iran nuclear threat, which Israel and its Arab regional partners perceive with alarm.

Zvi Mazel, Israel’s former ambassador to Egypt and a senior analyst with the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told JNS that he views the state visit as a possible sign of warming relations between the two countries.

“It’s good news, especially that the invitation is for an official visit, which means an honor guard at the airport and lots of journalists present—a message to the Egyptian people that the government favors business with Israel,” he said.

While Israel and Egypt have maintained a cold peace since the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1978, their mutual ties are largely limited to top government officials and secretive visits. They also both actively work to keep the volatile enclave that is Gaza and the Hamas terror organization that runs it in check.

Samuel Tadros, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and author of Motherland Lost: The Egyptian and Coptic Quest for Modernity and Reflection on the Revolution in Egypt, told JNS that the visit is a positive step, and that “Egypt has always shied away from an open relationship with Israel and discouraged its own citizens from normal relations, as well as fomenting anti-Semitism in its own state media.”

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in 2015. Credit: 360b/Shutterstock.

“Egypt has not invited an Israeli prime minister to visit despite increased intelligence cooperation since Sisi came to power in 2013,” noted Tadros.

The decision shows that the Egyptian government is more welcoming of working with this Israeli government, despite its possible reservations about Bennett’s ideological background, he assessed.

However, Mazel said that interest in Egyptian relations with Israel is narrowly based, with one main goal being the selling and buying of gas. He said this is not normalization in the plain sense of the term but a move based on commercial interests.

‘Old pattern of Hamas attrition war against Israel’

The head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Abbas Kamel, met in Israel last week with Bennett, who later tweeted a photo of the two. The prime minister said they discussed “diplomatic, security and economic aspects” of the two countries’ relationship, as well as Egyptian mediation vis-à-vis the security situation regarding Gaza.

For years, Egypt has served as a mediator between Israel and Hamas leaders.

Indeed, the visit comes as tensions in Gaza have flared up in recent days.

“Surely, Egypt is very important to Israel, and its role of mediator with Hamas is vital,” said Mazel. “Yet I don’t see any important achievement that would have changed the situation, and it seems we are going back to the old pattern of a Hamas attrition war against Israel.”

“Egypt only intervenes to stop Hamas attacks against Israel when it is afraid of a major flare-up that might endanger it,” he added.

Multiple fires broke out near the border with Gaza on Monday, which Israeli authorities believe were started by explosive-carrying balloons launched from the Hamas-controlled enclave, reported Ynet. In retaliation for the arson attacks, Israeli fighter jets struck several Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday night.

It comes as Israel and the United Nations allow the transfer of Qatari funds to Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Meanwhile, Egypt closed the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday amid increased tensions with Hamas. It represents the first time the crossing has been shut down during a workday since early 2021, reported the AP.

Israel’s Kan news reported on Sunday night that Cairo is also furious with Hamas leaders over violent riots at the Gaza-Israel border on Saturday that resulted in an Israeli Border Police officer being shot in the head. Bar-El Hadaria Shmueli, 21, was wounded as Gaza rioters at a Hamas-run rally surged toward the security fence; he remains in critical condition at Soroka Hospital in Beersheva.

‘A mediator in the conflict’

The announcement of the Egyptian invitation comes as Bennett is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday. Egypt and Israel, close allies of America, certainly view power changes in the Middle East with concern, and the perceived success of the Taliban in the eyes of terror groups affects regional stability.

At the same time, the Biden administration has prioritized human-rights concerns as part of its foreign policy, a matter that Egypt has long been accused of violating by outside groups.

The Israeli media has reported that el-Sisi seeks Bennett’s help in making its case to Biden this week, said Mazel, which has been part of a working system that has gone on for years.

According to Tadros, the Egyptian invitation signifies “a realization in Egypt after the last Gaza war that its historical role as a mediator in the conflict is highly beneficial to its position and relations with Washington.”

He added that “Egypt may thus see its role in the Arab-Israeli conflict as again useful in overcoming criticism of its human rights record, especially with the Biden administration.”

Source: https://www.jns.org/amid-regional-upheaval-egypt-and-israel-seek-to-strengthen-ties-and-border-security/

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Egyptian children play with fireworks at the start of Ramadan. Photograph: APAImages/Rex/Shutterstock

An Egyptian science fiction drama that predicts Israel’s destruction has provoked an angry reaction from the Jewish state, including from the country’s foreign ministry, which reminded its neighbour of a decades-old peace deal.

Set in the year 2120, the series called El-Nehaya, meaning The End, imagines a bleak future with cloned robots, battered skyscrapers, and relentless violence.

In episode one, the protagonist, played by acclaimed actor Youssef el-Sherif, tells his students of a war to “liberate Jerusalem” that occurred before Israel turned 100, less than three decades from the present day.

He said Israeli Jews of European origin returned to Europe. However, he did not mention what happened to the several million Jews in Israel of Middle Eastern descent. The US, too, had broken up, said el-Sherif, who plays a teacher and engineer.

Israel’s foreign ministry said the show was “unfortunate and unacceptable. Especially between countries who have had a peace agreement for 41 years.”

Once enemies, the two states have worked closely on security issues since the 1979 treaty and also to enforce a blockade in Gaza, the Palestinian enclave with which they both share a frontier.

Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Post newspaper called on its government to go even further than “a rather bland statement”, citing a clause in the peace treaty that states the two sides would “abstain from hostile propaganda against each other.”.

The 30-episode series is made by Synergy, which has ties with the government of President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and airs on the ON television network, which is owned by a pro-government company.

“Shows like these could not be aired without at least a wink from Cairo,” the Jerusalem Post article said.

El-Nehaya is one of many dramas and soap operas that launched during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan when people typically stay at home and watch television while fasting.

Its scriptwriter, Amr Samir Atif, told the Associated Press that the destruction of Israel “is a possible future in the absence of real peace and true stability in the region. Peace should be based on justice.”

There was no comment from the Egyptian government.

It is not the first Egyptian series to anger Israel. In 2002, Horseman Without a Horse, which depicted the Arab fight against the establishment of the state of Israel, but included antisemitic cliches about Jewish conspiracies for world domination.

Washington also complained at the time, saying it was “a programme that promotes hatred”.

Other Ramadan shows this year have broken ground for the opposite message to El-Nehaya – highlighting the normalization of some Middle Eastern countries’ relations with Israel.

In one Saudi drama, Exit 7, a character questioned whether Israel should remain an enemy and if Riyadh’s support for a Palestinian state had been fruitless. The show was seen as mirroring the position of Saudi Arabia’s government, which has increased ties with Israel, partly due to their shared arch-enemy, Iran.

Source:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/01/egyptian-tv-show-el-nehaya-about-israels-destruction-opens-real-world-rift

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On April 25, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that an Israeli delegation will take part in next year’s World Expo, hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Dubai. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, fresh off his victory in the April 9 elections, tweeted his approval of Israel’s participation, which he called “another expression of Israel’s rising status in the world and the region.” The idea of Israeli innovators showcasing their achievements in the Gulf would have been hard to imagine not long ago. Today, it turns few heads.

This latest public sign of détente builds on years of diplomatic progress between Arab Gulf states and Israel. Under Netanyahu’s second premiership—beginning in 2009—Jerusalem has sought closer ties with the Gulf’s conservative monarchies. Netanyahu secured an audience with Sultan Qaboos of Oman during an official visit last fall and met the Omani foreign minister in Washington early this year. Bahrain, too, has long had covert talks with Israel and could be close to normalizing relations. Regional giant Saudi Arabia has also cooperated with Israel on different levels. Riyadh reportedly supported Israel’s offensive against Hamas during the 2014 Gaza war, while Jerusalem in turn greenlighted the sale of German tanks to the Saudis.

Once an open secret, these relationships are now all but overt and serve to enhance Israel’s regional standing. Yet proclamations of a supposed “new era” in Israeli-Gulf relations exaggerate the extent to which ties have improved. Although Israel and the Gulf states are getting closer, it is unclear where these relationships are heading.

Government-to-government contact with Israel by Gulf states is a sharp break with longstanding policy in the Arab world. Following Israel’s decisive victory in the Six-Day War of 1967, the Arab League pledged to oppose recognition of, as well as negotiation with, Israel. Though Gulf states did not follow the lead of Egypt and Jordan in signing peace treaties with Israel, relations were semi-normalized with and Oman and Bahrain after the Oslo Accords in 1994. Israel likely would have secured diplomatic breakthroughs with other Gulf states had the peace process succeeded. Yet all this came to a halt with the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000, when budding relations were severed.

Shared stakes in curbing Iranian aggression will drive these relationships for the foreseeable future. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif referred to Israel in conjunction with Saudi Arabia and the UAE as Iran’s adversaries during a Fox News interview that aired on April 28. Jerusalem sees an existential threat in the “death to Israel” chanting Iranian regime, while the Gulf states view Tehran’s influence as destabilizing to the region and beyond. Opposing a common foe has brought Israel and the Gulf states into a tenuous strategic alliance. At least for now.

Strategic interest can take Israeli-Gulf ties only so far. The biggest obstacle to full normalization of relations remains the Palestinian issue. Consider Israeli-Egyptian relations. Although Jerusalem and Cairo maintain extensive security cooperation, in other areas, such as person-to-person contacts, relations are poor. A 2015 poll found that Egyptians considered Israel the most hostile country, just ahead of the United States and Iran. A similar “cold peace” is likely to take shape between Israel and the Gulf states whereby Jerusalem has extensive ties to the governments but Israelis are viewed overwhelmingly in a negative light by the local population.

Unless the stagnant peace process gets a new lease on life, security will be far and away the most robust area of cooperation between Israel and the Gulf. Therein lies a wasted opportunity. These countries could expand ties in a wide array of areas, chief among them economic relations. Lagging behind on measures of innovation, oil-rich Gulf states could invest in research and development opportunities with Israel while taking advantage of its renowned high-tech sector. Sustainability would be a particularly important area of cooperation, as Israeli environmental innovation could help address challenges like water shortages. The Gulf could conversely serve as an attractive destination for Israeli firms seeking foreign markets.

In addition to economic ties, person-to-person relations also have enormous potential. Israel offers several world-class universities, which have all tried to expand international enrollment—there’s no reason to believe students from the Gulf couldn’t fill some of those spots. Tourism could further bridge the gap between these countries. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis visit Turkey every year, and similar numbers of Israelis heading to the Gulf would not be unimaginable given grand plans for tourism there. Citizens from the Gulf could also visit Israel, whose tourism industry raked in $6.3 billion last year. Expanding—and diversifying—relations would be in the interests of both Israel and the Gulf states.

No matter how much willpower there is on both sides, the status quo in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will likely preclude stronger ties. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said that there will be no Palestinian recognition of Israel as a “Jewish state.” From the Israeli perspective, any deal must be contingent on the Palestinians’ recognition of Israel as just that: As German Chancellor Angela Merkel said last October, this sine qua non is non-negotiable.

Also rendering a peace settlement more and more unworkable are the 42 percent of Israelis who now favor annexing the West Bank and the proliferation of Israeli settlements in that territory. The result is the lowest levels of support for a two-state solution in two decades. It’s difficult to imagine Gulf states embracing Israel openly if prospects for a two-state solution disintegrate.

Next year’s expo in Dubai may or may not mark an inflection point in Israeli-Gulf relations. Both sides have shown a willingness to engage more with the other. However, much can change in a year, and this is but one signal of potential change. It remains to be seen what shape this engagement will take going forward and if any significant policy changes follow. The United States should step in by leveraging its close relationships with both sides to push for stronger cooperation across many areas, not just security.

Daniel J. Samet is a program assistant with the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East 

Source: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/israeli-gulf-relations-will-the-detente-deepen-or-dry-up

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WARSAW, Poland (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday at a security conference in Warsaw that Iran is the top threat in the Middle East and confronting the country is key to reaching peace in the entire region.

Pompeo met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the opening session at the conference and said “pushing back” against Iran was central to dealing with all the region’s other problems.

“You can’t achieve peace and stability in the Middle East without confronting Iran. It’s just not possible,” Pompeo said alongside Netanyahu.

The Israeli leader lauded the participation of high-profile Arab dignitaries at the conference, saying it signaled a shift in regional priorities.

“In a room of some 60 foreign ministers, an Israeli prime minister and the foreign ministers of leading Arab countries stood together, and spoke with unusual force, clarity and unity against a common threat of the Iranian regime,” Netanyahu said before his meeting with Pompeo. “I think this marks a change, an important understanding of what threatens our future.”

The U.S. and Poland are sponsoring the conference, which they say is aimed at promoting peace and security in the Mideast but appears to be mainly focused on isolating Iran. Iran has denounced the gathering as an American anti-Iran “circus” aimed at “demonizing” it.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is attending along with representatives from numerous Arab countries. But France and Germany are not sending Cabinet-ranked officials, and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini is staying away.

Russia and China aren’t participating, either, and the Palestinians, who have called for the meeting to be boycotted, also will be absent.

For Netanyahu, a longtime opponent of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the gathering marks a culmination of his call to unite the world against Israel’s arch-enemy of Iran. He’s long boasted that Israel has clandestinely developed good relations with several Arab states, despite a lack of official ties. On Wednesday, he met with Oman’s foreign minister, Yusuf bin Alawi, and at Thursday’s opening session he was seated next to the foreign minister of Yemen, as representatives of Kuwait, Qatar and others looked on.

Israel has signed peace accords with Egypt and Jordan, but other Arab nations have refused to publicly improve relations without significant progress being made toward ending Israel’s half-century occupation of lands sought for a Palestinian state. But that shunning has begun to ease in recent years as shared concerns about Iran have overshadowed the Palestinian issue.

Netanyahu considers Iran to be Israel’s greatest threat, citing its frequent calls for Israel’s destruction, its nuclear program and support for militant groups across the region. Israel has been active in recent months attacking Iranian targets in neighboring Syria.

The Americans have tried to broaden the scope of what was initially billed as an Iran-centric meeting to include the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the fight against the Islamic State group, and the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

“No one country will dominate the discussion today nor will any one issue dominate our talks. Everyone should speak thoughtfully and honestly. Each country should respect the voice of all others. Our hope is that every engagement will entail true back-and-forth dialogue, not just be a chance to recite prepared statements,” Pompeo said in opening the meeting. “We want to bring together countries with an interest in stability to share their different views and break out of traditional thinking.”

Pompeo acknowledged that eclectic nature of the gathering could produce views that “may even conflict with those of the United States.” But he said he welcomed the dialogue since none of the region’s challenges will “solve themselves.”

“We must work together for security. No country can afford to remain on the sidelines,” he said.

Source: https://apnews.com/edb531aaea264f5682b4ebe82bdb3414

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Cairo at the end of May for a covert meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Israel’s Channel 10 reported on Monday.

The purpose of the May 22nd meeting, according to Channel 10’s Barak Ravid, was to discuss Egypt’s effort to promote a long-term diplomatic deal that would include a return of the Palestinian Authority to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a significant easing of the Israeli and Egyptian blockades of Gaza, and a rehabilitation of critical infrastructure in the Strip.

Netanyahu and Sisi also talked about finding a solution to the issue of the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers and the live Israeli civilians held by Hamas in Gaza.

An additional agenda item was the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan the Trump administration hopes to present in the near future.

The prime minister spent only a few hours in Egypt, accompanied by a small team of aides and bodyguards, and returned to Israel late at night, with the trip being kept secret even from most members of Netanyahu’s security cabinet.

This ongoing behind-the-scenes regional diplomacy could explain the relative restraint shown by Netanyahu in recent months amid a series of violent flare-ups on the Israel-Gaza border, Ravid theorized on Twitter.

Netanyahu and Sisi previously met publicly last September on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly gathering in New York City.

Source: https://www.algemeiner.com/2018/08/13/report-israels-netanyahu-held-secret-meeting-in-may-in-cairo-with-egypts-sisi-to-discuss-potential-gaza-deal/

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