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Al-Sisi commits to Egypt-Israel peace; gas deal mooted
In a televised interview, Egypt’s former-Defence Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is expected to be elected as the country’s president later this month, said that he would respect Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel.
During the interview with state television’s Ibrahim Eissa and Lamis El-Hadidi, al-Sisi said that “I respect all international accords, including the treaty with Israel.” The two countries signed a peace agreement in 1979 and their common border has remained largely quiet ever since. However, al-Sisi indicated that the cordial Egypt-Israel relations could become closer under his rule, if Israel were to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians. He said in the interview, “Let us see a Palestinian nation with Jerusalem as the capital. That would make us all happy … There is an opportunity to give the Palestinians hope, and that hope will open a lot of doors in the region.”
Al-Sisi led the Egyptian military in removing the Muslim Brotherhood from power last summer and is predicted to win the May 25-26 presidential vote by a landslide. Since Egypt’s military seized power, cooperation between Egyptian and Israeli security forces has increased; Egypt’s army has fought armed Islamist groups in the Sinai Peninsula which borders Israel. Al-sisi said during the interview that such groups could be eliminated in “an hour’s time” were it not for concern over potential harm to “women, children and the elderly.” In recent months, Egyptian authorities have outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood and placed its leaders on trial.
Meanwhile, it was also announced this week that the commercial owners of Israel’s Tamar reservoir have signed a letter of intent to begin providing natural gas to Egypt’s major gas facility, which is majority-owned by a Spanish company. Should the agreement go ahead, Tamar will supply gas to Egypt for 15 years, having begun to supply the Israeli domestic market in March 2013. It would be a reversal of roles, given that Israel received Egyptian gas until regional instability ended the supply two years ago.