EGYPT - Peace by Economic Incentives
As the Israeli military’s ground operation in Rafah continues, tensions between Israel and Egypt, which borders Gaza, have continued to grow. The ongoing war is testing the strength of Israel’s longest-lasting peace treaty with an Arab nation.
In the 45 years since Israel and Egypt established diplomatic relations, the two countries have cooperated economically, militarily, and politically. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis visit Egypt each year, and the two countries share intelligence to fight terrorism in Sinai. Egypt also signed a $15 billion gas import deal with an Israeli company in 2018.
Despite strained political ties between the two countries, trade relations have remained stable, Haisam Hassanein, an expert on Israel-Arab relations at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told The Media Line. “Israeli fuel goes into Egypt. Both Jordan and Egypt also renewed their water-sharing agreement, despite strained political bilateral ties,” he said.
Egypt has consistently rejected the possibility of relocating Gazans into its territory, temporarily or permanently.
“Israel’s insistence on relocating refugees to Egypt triggers the country’s national security,” Nourhan N. Moussa, a Cairo-based international lawyer and law professor, told The Media Line.
As part of its defense at the ICJ, Israel pointed to the existence of 50 tunnels between Egypt and Rafah.
“These tunnels are used by Hamas to supply itself with weapons and ammunition and could potentially be used to smuggle out of Gaza hostages or Hamas senior operatives,” Israeli Deputy Attorney General Gilad Noam told the ICJ.
-themedialine.org, 24 May 2024
Arno's Commentary
Here we see the power of commerce. While the vast majority of Egyptians are pro-Palestinian, in the end, Egypt has more to lose by severing ties than Israel.
Egypt is important because that is where Israel was born. Then came the time when the Lord told Egypt, “Let my people go.” Pharaoh repeatedly refused, and after the fourth plague, God separated the people of Egypt from the people of Israel. “And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth” (Exodus 8:22).
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
