Egypt as a mediator outweighing Turkey in Israel-Hamas conflict: Al Sissi is the real winner

Ο πρόεδρος της Αιγύπτου, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi στο Προεδρικό Μέγαρο. EPA, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE HANDOUT




By Roxani Kapantzaki

The recent war between Israel and Palestine offered the opportunity to countries such as Egypt and Turkey to attempt to influence the development of this situation. Both of these countries pursue to emerge as a leading force in the Muslim world, managing to extend their writ in the region and mediate between Israel and Palestine in order to establish a ceasefire.

However, they have a different approach and aims. Egypt became the basic mediator between the two conflicting parties whereas Turkey supported Hamas. This article explores the aims of Egypt’s mediating role in the conflict and the reasons why it outweighed Turkey.

To begin with, Egypt played a quintessential role in brokering a ceasefire between the Israelis and the Palestinians in order to establish an alleged peace in the area. It managed to find a way to convince both the Israeli and the Palestinians to stop the war in order to put an end to another round of this conflict that resulted in the death of many people and the destruction in Gaza Strip.[i] Egypt’s negotiations were fruitful and “underscored its relevance as a mediator in the region’s oldest and most intractable conflict”.[ii]

Besides that, it led to an amelioration of its relationship with the American President, Joe Biden. Since his election Joe Biden snubbed the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sissi due to the Cairo’s low record in human rights. Nevertheless, the escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militants of Hamas in Gaza led to a twist and Sissi finally earned public thanks from Biden.[iii]

In fact, Biden expressed his “sincere gratitude to President Al Sisi and the senior Egyptian officials who played a critical role in this diplomacy”.[iv] Another advantage stemming from the amelioration of Egypt’s relationship with the USA is the fact that the latter could contribute with matters such as its dispute with Ethiopia over control of the Nile River, the conflict taking place in its neighboring Libya and other regional security issues.[v]

It is true that Egypt has the advantage of collaborating reliably both with Israel and Palestine. Though it has fought four wars with Israel until 1973, later on in the 1980s the two countries established a cooperation on security issues. Furthermore, Israel is grateful for the help provided by the Egyptian government and has allowed the Egyptian forces a greater freedom in Sinai in order to fight militants.[vi]

In fact, under Sissi’s government there was a deepening of the relations between Israel and Egypt, collaborating on political, economic and security issues. In 2016, a peculiar alliance was formed among these two countries and Hamas in order to deal with the Islamic State affiliate in Sinai. Egypt has put pressure on Hamas because it controls its border with the Gaza Strip. Moreover, it promised to salve the devastation caused to the Palestinians by offering 500 million dollars for the reconstruction of Gaza and it also allowed injured Palestinians to enter Egypt in order to have medical treatment.[vii]

Having mediated in such a successful manner helps Egypt to steal a march against its rivals in the region, Turkey and the UAE.[viii] In particular, since the military coup in 2013 which enabled Sisi to rise in power Egypt’s influence in the region had waned and recently Gulf States such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia extended their influence. However, the ceasefire “boosted Egypt’s standing in the region”.[ix] Taking into consideration the way Egypt is connected to both Israel and Hamas one can understand why these ties paved its way towards its role as a mediator.

Bearing the aforementioned in mind, it is proper to discern the causes of Turkey’s failure to approach both parties of the conflict. On the one hand, the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has called Israel a “terrorist state” which is “immoral”.[x] Though talks between the two states have been more frequent and trade has increased their relationship cannot recover from some statements made by Turkey’s officials. Namely, without hiding his intentions to render Turkey a leading power in the Muslim world while addressing the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (IOC), Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Turkish Foreign Minister, claimed that Israel is conducting “ethnic, religious and cultural cleansing”.[xi] Certainly, a rapprochement to Israel cannot rely on statements of this kind.

On the other hand, Turkey blatantly supports Hamas. In 2020, Erdogan hosted Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of Hamas, in Istanbul and Saleh al-Arouri, Hamas’s top military commander who has a bounty of 5 million dollars on his head by the USA. According to Selin Nasi, a researcher from Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey providing shelter to members of Hamas has been “the bone of contention” in the relations between Turkey and Israel.[xii] Besides, Hamas is considered as a terrorist organization by the USA, the EU and Israel.[xiii] Thus, Turkey’s pursuit of a rapprochement with Israel may be challenging. In the case of the recent conflict, it cost Ankara its rising as a significant actor in the region and it further isolated the state.

All things considered, Egypt is a major actor in the region sculpturing a mediating role between Israel and Hamas, proving its negotiating powers and the way it can rise to occasion. Its contribution to forging a ceasefire between the two parties is a valuable means towards extending its influence in the region and enhancing its relations with the USA. Its good relations with both parties contributed towards hindering Turkey’s attempts to play a role in the area. Turkey has made the wrong movements on the chessboard and ended up isolated from the ceasefire agreement indicating that its foreign policy is in tatters. Certainly, whether the ceasefire shall hold or not is a matter that remains to be seen but Egypt can be considered a reliable ally of both parties of the conflict.

[i] S. Magdy, “Mediating in Gaza conflict, Egypt seeks broader influence”, May 21, 2021, online at: https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-africa-middle-east-egypt-religion-59df63d3da25c244afc2580080fe5435, (accessed 30/05/2021).

[ii] H. Saleh, “Egypt cements role as Middle East power broker”, May 27, 2021, online at: https://www.ft.com/content/56e4a95f-a38a-4e40-8da8-08582c08c315, (accessed 30/05/2021).

[iii] Ibid.

[iv] V. Salama and J. Malsin, “Egypt Played Central Role in Israeli-Palestinian Cease-Fire”, May 21, 2021, online at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/egypt-played-central-role-in-israeli-palestinian-cease-fire-11621639476, (accessed 30/05/2021).

[v] Ibid

[vi] Supranote 1

[vii] S. Raghavan, “Once snubbed by Biden, Egypt’s Sissi uses Gaza cease-fire role to prove his relevance”, May 21, 2021, online at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/sissi-israel-gaza-ceasefire-biden-egypt/2021/05/21/fb054dc8-b9c9-11eb-bc4a-62849cf6cca9_story.html , (accessed 30/05/2021).

[viii] Supranote 1

[ix] Supranote 4.

[x] D. D. Bellut and H. Köylü, “Turkey’s Erdogan hits out at Israel as Mideast conflict grows”, May 19, 2021, online at: https://www.dw.com/en/turkeys-erdogan-hits-out-at-israel-as-mideast-conflict-grows/a-57573760, (accessed 30/05/2021).

[xi] Ibid.

[xii] Arab News, “Turkey’s ties to Hamas risk hindering normalization with Israel”, online at: https://www.arabnews.com/node/1795236/middle-east, (accessed 30/05/2021).

[xiii] Ibid.

[1] S. Magdy, “Mediating in Gaza conflict, Egypt seeks broader influence”, May 21, 2021, online at: https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-africa-middle-east-egypt-religion-59df63d3da25c244afc2580080fe5435, (accessed 30/05/2021).

[1] H. Saleh, “Egypt cements role as Middle East power broker”, May 27, 2021, online at: https://www.ft.com/content/56e4a95f-a38a-4e40-8da8-08582c08c315, (accessed 30/05/2021).

[1] Ibid.

[1] V. Salama and J. Malsin, “Egypt Played Central Role in Israeli-Palestinian Cease-Fire”, May 21, 2021, online at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/egypt-played-central-role-in-israeli-palestinian-cease-fire-11621639476, (accessed 30/05/2021).

[1] Ibid

[1] Supranote 1

[1] S. Raghavan, “Once snubbed by Biden, Egypt’s Sissi uses Gaza cease-fire role to prove his relevance”, May 21, 2021, online at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/sissi-israel-gaza-ceasefire-biden-egypt/2021/05/21/fb054dc8-b9c9-11eb-bc4a-62849cf6cca9_story.html , (accessed 30/05/2021).

[1] Supranote 1

[1] Supranote 4.

[1] D. D. Bellut and H. Köylü, “Turkey’s Erdogan hits out at Israel as Mideast conflict grows”, May 19, 2021, online at: https://www.dw.com/en/turkeys-erdogan-hits-out-at-israel-as-mideast-conflict-grows/a-57573760, (accessed 30/05/2021).

[1] Ibid.

[1] Arab News, “Turkey’s ties to Hamas risk hindering normalization with Israel”, online at: https://www.arabnews.com/node/1795236/middle-east, (accessed 30/05/2021).

[1] Ibid.

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