Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi described Israel as an “enemy” in his concluding remarks at the Arab-Islamic summit in Doha earlier this week.
Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt’s State Information Service, said during a television interview on Tuesday that “The last time the word ‘enemy’ was used by Egypt’s top official, or by any state official, was before” then-president Anwar Sadat’s landmark trip to Israel and his address to the Knesset in 1977.
That visit by Sadat paved the way toward the Camp David Accords in 1979, which cemented a peace treaty and the normalization of ties between the two countries.
Rashwan emphasized that Sisi’s words carry “very significant implications,” explaining that “Egypt is under threat, and only an enemy threatens national security…a friend does not threaten your national security.”
He pointed to one pressing concern: the danger of Palestinians fleeing Gaza through the Rafah crossing and attempting to enter Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
During his Doha address, Sisi insisted that Egypt and its allies must “change our stances regarding the enemy’s perception of us, so that they see any Arab country, extending from the ocean to the Gulf, has an umbrella that extends to all Islamic countries.”
Sisi also declared that Israel’s conduct is undermining any progress toward peace. Speaking directly about Israel, he told the summit: “What is happening right now hinders the future of peace, threatens your security and the security of the peoples in the region and adds obstacles to chances for any new peace agreements and even aborts existing ones.”
Reports over the weekend suggested Cairo is working to establish a joint Arab military structure patterned after NATO, an idea linked to the war between Israel and Hamas and to the summit in Doha.
Sources cited by outlets including Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar and London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi said Sisi is looking to renew support for a rapid-response Arab force capable of defending member states from attack. They described it as a defensive measure rather than a direct confrontation with Israel.
Palestinian news agency Ma’an echoed those accounts, saying Egypt has floated the possibility of providing as many as 20,000 soldiers and putting a senior Egyptian officer in charge, with Saudi Arabia expected to be a main partner. Ma’an stressed that talks are ongoing.
According to reports, discussions are centered on the structure and strategy of such a force, with Egyptian officials insisting it must reflect the population size and military strength of participating nations.
Separately, Gulf leaders announced on Monday that the Gulf Cooperation Council’s defense committee will convene in Doha in response to Israel’s strike on Hamas figures in the Qatari capital last week.
In their statement, the Gulf leaders urged the bloc to activate its “joint defense mechanism,” directing the GCC’s Unified Military Command to “take the necessary executive measures to activate the mechanisms of joint defense and the Gulf deterrence capabilities.”
They further asserted that Israel’s strikes on Qatar breached the GCC’s Joint Defense Agreement, which treats an attack on one member as an attack on all.
The GCC concluded with a warning that Israel’s “aggression against the sisterly State of Qatar poses a direct threat to shared Gulf security, regional peace, and stability.”
{Matzav.com}
