Israel is seeking to assist al-Sisi regime which is facing one of its harshest economic downfall in its history.
This time the level of cooperation between both countries won’t be on the security level or the intelligence level, but it will be on the economic level, which would be a turning point on the level of normalization between both countries.
According to Ynetnews, “Israel is preparing for a series of large-scale projects with Egypt after many years of separation in economic cooperation between the two countries.”
The Israeli newspaper pointed that the aim behind the joint discussions on these projects is to provide urgent assistance to Egypt saying,”The joint discussions on the projects reflect not only a rapprochement between the two countries, but also an urgent need for improved infrastructure in Egypt given the severe economic crisis that threatens the political stability of the country.”
Egypt’s political stability under al-Sisi rule is of great concern to the Zionist entity. Since al-Sisi took power through a military coup in 2013 against the first democratically elected president of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, the relation between both countries have witnessed unprecedented rapprochement. Security and military cooperation has tremendously developed between both countries in Sinai Peninsula. Moreover, on the diplomatic and political level, al- Sisi promised Israel warm peace in more than one ooccasion during his speeches.
Now, economic cooperation between both countries seems to be on its way, too.
Egypt has recently raised interest in “several projects with Israel—among them, desalinization of sea water to address concerns over water levels in the Nile River, which could lead to a dramatic shortage of water available for drinking and irrigation, ” according to Ynetnews.
In addition, Israel is also preparing to provide cooperation and assistance to Egypt in the fields of solar energy, electricity production, agriculture, irrigation and gas.
Moreover, tourism is another sector that Egypt is also examining the possibility of extending its cooperation with Israel, “as the billions invested in an expansion program in the Suez Canal have yet to yield the expected revenue,” said the Israeli newspaper.
The Israeli newspaper stressed that one of the major factors providing the impetus to the new cooperative efforts stems from “political factors which intimately affect Israel’s security.”
It pointed to recent talks recently held between senior Israeli and American officials, “concerns were raised over the stability of the Egyptian regime, with the two allies agreeing that in the absence of any fundamental improvement in the Egyptian economy, social unrest could precipitate the pouring of Muslim Brotherhood forces into the streets to undermine the rule of General al-Sisi.”
In the same context, Egypt’s government bbelieve that the economic crisis is” a major strategic threat to their country and, as such, they are placing emphasis in Egypt and abroad on efforts to increase revenue and expand infrastructure,” reported Ynetnews.
Egypt’s economy has been suffering since the military coup in 2013. Tourism and foreign investments which were among the major resources of foreign currency have withdrawn s a result of political unrest and security instability in Sinai Peninsula which led to shortage in hard currency.
The Israeli news outlet also pointed that Egypt’s economic crisis ” has been greatly exacerbated by the ongoing fighting raging in Sinai and Libya as well as its support to Saudi Arabia in Yemen.” It added, “only a portion of the financial commitments from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait have been received.”
Furthermore, Israel worries that securing the $12 billion IMF loan could incite the Egyptian public dissent in the short term as it is granted on a series of strict conditions regarding a reduction of bureaucracy, increasing taxes and reducing subsidies.
