The latest outbreak of violence between the Israelis and Gaza's militants is putting Egypt's relations with Israel to their severest test in the 44 years since the former enemies signed a historic peace treaty.
After years of what had become known as a “cold peace”, the two sides have forged relatively close ties in the past decade, co-operating on counter-terrorism, energy and the fight against human and drug trafficking into Israel.
But that spirit of co-operation appears to have been shattered by the violence sparked by a deadly incursion into southern Israel by Gaza-based Hamas militants on October 7, which left 1,300 Israelis dead. More than 2,200 Palestinians have also died in Gaza in retaliatory Israeli air strikes.
Ominously, differences between the two neighbours this time round are fundamental and centre on a host of thorny issues. Should relations experience a permanent rupture, the ramifications for Egypt, Israel, the region and beyond would be incalculable.
Equally worrisome is that Egypt's vital ties with the US – its main economic backer for decades and Israel's closest ally – could be in serious jeopardy if there is a complete breakdown in relations with the Israelis.
None of this should be surprising.
The 1979 peace treaty was the first between an Arab nation and Israel. It ended an enmity that dated back to 1948 when the pair fought the first of four, full-fledged wars.
The treaty also enshrined a seismic shift in Egypt's foreign alliance that reshaped the region's landscape, replacing the Soviet Union with the US as Cairo's main foreign backer and benefactor.
To reward Egypt for making peace with Israel, the US launched a generous aid programme that has seen billions of dollars pouring into the country in economic and military assistance to this day.
But Egypt-Israel relations have deteriorated sharply as Israeli air strikes have in the past week targeted Gaza's border crossing with Egypt at least three times, also causing damage to the Egyptian side of the boundary. Egypt criticised Israel for the strikes and demanded they stop.
Confirming the Israeli position, military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a media briefing on Saturday that “the borders are closed, and any movement or crossing to Egypt will be in co-ordination with us and in contact with us. For now, this issue is not happening.”
Unfortunately for Egypt, the crisis it faces over relations with Israel and the western pressure it is enduring to adopt policies more aligned with Israel's on Gaza have come amid a severe economic crisis.
“We understand there have been offers to Egypt by some western governments for debt forgiveness and direct investment in return for a more flexible position on Gaza,” said a senior Cairo-based banker, who did not want to be named because of the topic's sensitivity.
Egypt remains steadfast, still loyal to a Palestinian cause it has championed for more than 70 years.
Underlining the rift, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi did not mince his words when he indirectly criticised Israel's reaction to the Hamas attack.
Referring to Israeli policies, he said Egypt wanted to see an end to “collective punishment, siege, starving people and eviction”. He warned that “hosting our Palestinian brothers could liquidate the Palestinian question.”
At the heart of the dispute now is what Cairo sees as a plot by Israel and its backers to force Gaza's 2.3 million residents out of the coastal enclave and into Egypt's sparsely populated Sinai Peninsula.
Egypt sees such a scenario as an unacceptable repeat of the calamitous displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes at the time of Israel's creation in 1948 and the Middle East war in 1967, known as the “Nakba” or catastrophe.
“Relations are strained in a way that had not been seen in years,” said Michael Hanna, the New York-based director of the US programme at the International Crisis Group. “Egypt is deeply worried about the trajectory of events. It is worried about what comes next as it continues to reject the shifting of the burden of the Palestinian question on to its shoulders.”
That Egypt and Israel made peace in 1979 and forged close security relations in the past decade does not mean differences between them only surfaced after the October 7 attacks.
They have often been at sharp odds over the Palestinian question.
Cairo has repeatedly condemned Israel's heavy-handedness in dealing with the Palestinians.
It has been angered by the construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, the killing or arrests of rock-throwing children in Jerusalem and deaths of thousands of civilians in previous Israeli wars against Hamas, among other issues.
But the killing of hundreds of Israelis, including women and children in the October 7 incursion and the subsequent pummeling of the Gaza Strip by Israeli air strikes shed light on how far apart the two nations remain.
President El Sisi's government, for example, has not publicly condemned the killing of hundreds of Israeli civilians in the Hamas incursion. Neither has Cairo publicly offered any condolences. In contrast, the attack was met with an outpouring in the West of sympathy and support for Israel.
And there has been no direct contact between Mr El Sisi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the Hamas rampage, although it cannot be ruled out that they spoke by telephone but chose not to publicise the call.
In contrast, Mr El Sisi has held talks on the telephone and in person with at least 17 foreign leaders and senior officials since October 7. His Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has intensified diplomatic efforts in the same period.
Officially, Egypt's position has essentially been the rejection of targeting civilians on both sides.
Significantly, Egypt has saved its harshest criticism and condemnation for the killing and destruction wrought upon the Palestinians by Israel's air campaign in Gaza, its total blockade of the narrow enclave and its refusal to allow humanitarian aid to alleviate the suffering of residents.
Egypt has also rejected as a breach of international law the demand issued by the Israeli military for more than one million people to evacuate the northern half of the Gaza Strip and move to the south.
“It is better for you to die as knights, heroes and martyrs on your land than to leave it for the usurping colonisers to take,” Sheikh Ahmed El Tayeb, the powerful Grand Iman of Cairo's Al Azhar mosque – the foremost seat of learning for Islam's Sunni majority – told Gaza's Palestinians in a message.
“Let the entire world know that every occupation will end sooner or later and regardless of how long it lasts.”
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Where to submit a sample
Volunteers of all ages can submit DNA samples at centres across Abu Dhabi, including: Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), Biogenix Labs in Masdar City, NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City, NMC Royal Medical Centre, Abu Dhabi, NMC Royal Women's Hospital, Bareen International Hospital, Al Towayya in Al Ain, NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
The biog
Born: High Wycombe, England
Favourite vehicle: One with solid axels
Favourite camping spot: Anywhere I can get to.
Favourite road trip: My first trip to Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan. The desert they have over there is different and the language made it a bit more challenging.
Favourite spot in the UAE: Al Dhafra. It’s unique, natural, inaccessible, unspoilt.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday (All UAE kick-off times)
Cagliari v AC Milan (6pm)
Lazio v Napoli (9pm)
Inter Milan v Atalanta (11.45pm)
Sunday
Udinese v Sassuolo (3.30pm)
Sampdoria v Brescia (6pm)
Fiorentina v SPAL (6pm)
Torino v Bologna (6pm)
Verona v Genoa (9pm)
Roma V Juventus (11.45pm)
Parma v Lecce (11.45pm)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Off-roading in the UAE: How to checklist
Fight card
1. Bantamweight: Victor Nunes (BRA) v Siyovush Gulmamadov (TJK)
2. Featherweight: Hussein Salim (IRQ) v Shakhriyor Juraev (UZB)
3. Catchweight 80kg: Rashed Dawood (UAE) v Khamza Yamadaev (RUS)
4. Lightweight: Ho Taek-oh (KOR) v Ronald Girones (CUB)
5. Lightweight: Arthur Zaynukov (RUS) v Damien Lapilus (FRA)
6. Bantamweight: Vinicius de Oliveira (BRA) v Furkatbek Yokubov (RUS)
7. Featherweight: Movlid Khaybulaev (RUS) v Zaka Fatullazade (AZE)
8. Flyweight: Shannon Ross (TUR) v Donovon Freelow (USA)
9. Lightweight: Mohammad Yahya (UAE) v Dan Collins (GBR)
10. Catchweight 73kg: Islam Mamedov (RUS) v Martun Mezhulmyan (ARM)
11. Bantamweight World title: Jaures Dea (CAM) v Xavier Alaoui (MAR)
12. Flyweight World title: Manon Fiorot (FRA) v Gabriela Campo (ARG)
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Racecard
6pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 Group 1 (PA) $55,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
6.35pm: Oud Metha Stakes Rated Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,200m
7.10pm: Jumeirah Classic Listed (TB) $150,000 (Turf) 1,600m
7.45pm: Firebreak Stakes Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,600m
8.20pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 Group 2 (TB) $350,000 (D) 1,900m
8.55pm: Al Bastakiya Trial Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,900m
9.30pm: Balanchine Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,800m
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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'Shakuntala Devi'
Starring: Vidya Balan, Sanya Malhotra
Director: Anu Menon
Rating: Three out of five stars
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company%20Profile
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Tom Fletcher on 'soft power'
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
