Since taking office in 6/2014, Egyptian pres. al-Sisi has supported Palestinian efforts in international fora, but remained largely removed from the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. This quarter, he made a high-profile speech in which he pledged that Egypt would push for direct Israeli-Palestinian talks (see “The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict” above). However, despite its enthusiastic embrace of the Egyptian initiative, Israel refused to reconsider its negotiating position, which alongside Cairo’s strained relations with Hamas, weakened al-Sisi’s hand.
Al-Sisi’s 5/17 speech did not clarify the specific nature of Egypt’s overtures to Israel and the Palestinians. There were 2 significant incidents, however, that pointed to the seriousness of Cairo’s intentions. On 6/16, Egypt’s amb. to Israel Hazem Khairat made a rare statement, his 1st in public since taking up his post in 2/2016, in which he called for the resumption of peace talks and reaffirmed Cairo’s willingness to help create an “appropriate Palestinian environment” for a resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict (Palestinian national reconciliation as a prerequisite to any peace deal was a key element in al-Sisi’s 5/17 speech). Later in the quarter, reaffirming al-Sisi’s commitment, Egyptian FM Shoukry visited (7/10) Israel to discuss his country’s efforts with Netanyahu and to advance plans for a meeting between the Israeli PM and PA pres. Abbas in Cairo (see “A New Egyptian Dimension” above).
The Israelis welcomed Egypt’s initiative as an alternative to the French one, even though neither the Egyptians nor the French viewed their efforts as distinct. A week after al-Sisi’s speech, Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced (5/23) that it had returned 2 Egyptian relics to Cairo (the lids to wooden coffins that had been smuggled from Egypt to Dubai, then London, and ultimately to Jerusalem), framing this as an improvement in bilateral relations. “The return of the Egyptian [artifacts] is symbolic, more than anything, of the changing relations [between] Israel and Egypt,” an official stated. For his part, Netanyahu repeatedly commended al-Sisi, saying (7/21) that Cairo had made a “serious effort” to “break the deadlock that has hung over peace efforts.”
Egypt’s counterinsurgency in n. Sinai continued unabated this quarter, along with Israel’s efforts to strengthen the Egyptian authorities’ hand. On 7/5, Israel’s amb. to Egypt Haim Koren asserted that the 2 countries were having the “best times we’ve ever had,” and that there’s “good cooperation between the armies, we have understandings about the Sinai Peninsula, and basically, we see [eye to eye] on development of the region.” The day after Shoukry met with Netanyahu in Israel, a senior Israeli official praised Israeli-Egyptian security coordination in n. Sinai, emphasizing that IDF drone strikes in Sinai in recent years had all taken place with Cairo’s knowledge and approval.
The burgeoning Hamas-Egypt rapprochement stalled this quarter after Hamas put out (6/7) a press release in which it claimed to have made every possible effort to secure the s. border and calling for Egypt to reopen the Rafah crossing (Egypt has kept the crossing almost entirely closed since the escalation of violence in n. Sinai in 10/2014; see JPS 45 [4]). Cairo reportedly invited, then disinvited, Hamas for another round of talks. According to an Egyptian security source, the meetings had been planned as part of Egypt’s efforts to push for Palestinian national reconciliation, and the initial invite included a request for the presence of a rep. of Hamas’s military wing (Ma‘an News Agency, 6/14). After the invitation was canceled, Raialyoum revealed (7/5) that Egyptian security officials were dissatisfied with the steps Hamas had taken since the last round of meetings. Although a senior Hamas official described it (7/5) merely as a “delayed” meeting, no Hamas delegation had traveled to Cairo by the end of the quarter, and the Rafah border crossing remained almost completely closed (see “Movement and Access” above).