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Opinion | The public meetings between al-Sisi and Abdullah and Bennett may mark a change in the nature of peace | Israel today

2021-09-13T19:01:07.079Z


Security cooperation with Egypt and Jordan is unprecedented in scope, but in both countries the government has been careful to convey a public coolness towards Israel. • Peace with our neighbors is very different from normalization with the Emirates, A legitimate factor


The noise of the celebrations on the anniversary of the "Abraham Agreements" with the Gulf states has not yet calmed down and today (Monday) another reason for the party was born: the first visit in many years by an Israeli prime minister to Egypt and the first public meeting with President al-Sisi.

If we add Bennett's visit to Jordan about two months ago, these are three positive events that should not be underestimated, especially against the backdrop of the gloomy Middle East landscape of Israel's escalating threats: from nuclear Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon and pro-Iranian militias in Syria and Hamas and Hamas Islamic in the South.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on his return to Israel:


"I have just finished my first visit to the President of Egypt. The meeting was very important and very good. During the meeting, first and foremost, we created a deep connection infrastructure for the future. 🇮🇱🇪🇬 pic.twitter.com/4VTn1NjvcT

- Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM_heb) September 13, 2021

It is permissible to congratulate each of the three, but we must not forget the essential difference between the first and the other two.

The thriving peace between Israel and the Emirates, which is gaining momentum every day, reflects a natural process of normalization of relations, which took place below the surface, but even then, it must be admitted, in a fairly normal way.

The peace between Israel and Jordan and Egypt is, admittedly, a signed peace, but it is not really normal.

The main reasons for the difference are also known.

There is no common boundary between us and most of the gulfs.

There has never been hostility or war and, for the most part, there has also been acceptance of the existence of the State of Israel as a legitimate entity in the region and recognition of its necessity as the only force in the region capable of dealing with Iran, the common enemy.

Peace with Jordan and Egypt, who fought us, is an agreement signed between leaders.

In the nations, in both countries, the hatred inherent in us is still simmering and bubbling.

The anomaly is even more noticeable when looking at the relationship closely.

The military-security and intelligence cooperation between Israel and Jordan and Egypt is deep and unprecedented in scope.

Without a fence, or a serious ground obstacle, the Jordanian army manages to effectively prevent terrorist infiltration and drug smuggling along the long border with the kingdom.

In Sinai, Egyptian army battalions are deployed along the border to prevent terrorists from firing at Eilat.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of security relations and it is not one-sided.

Egypt also plays, as is well known, a crucial and central role in mediating and conveying messages and warnings between Israel and Hamas, as well as in contacts for the exchange of prisoners.

The wide scope of security coordination between Israel and Egypt (and Jordan) highlights to some extent the lack of almost any cooperation between the two countries in the field of civil relations, in what is known as normalization.

It can be put this way: While the security coordination between Israel and Egypt is tighter than in the Mubarak era, Abd al-Fatah al-Sisi's reluctance to normalize relations with Israel in the civilian sphere is several times greater than that of Mubarak. It is true that Mubarak has only visited Israel twice, but he has often hosted Israeli personalities and politicians and been photographed with them, and has also given many interviews to the Israeli media that have been widely broadcast in the Egyptian media. The indirect message he wanted to convey to his people: Israel is legitimate and Israelis are human beings. You can talk to them.

Al-Sisi, on the other hand, rarely meets Israelis in public and has so far avoided interviews with the Israeli media. He is as cautious as fire from every public aspect of civilian cooperation. There are some who claim that it is possible to give up these and settle for security cooperation. It seems to me that they are wrong and that we should hope that the very invitation of Bennett to Egypt, to discuss all the many issues at hand, and the joint photo against the background of the Israeli flag, also mark the beginning of a change of attitude in the Presidential Palace. Without a real attempt to instill in the Egyptian people the fact that Israel is an existing fact - peace with Egypt will remain abnormal in the future as well.

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2021-09-13

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