President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was the dream of every Israeli government, and it was an unbelievable gift to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu especially since he had to give absolutely nothing in return. One would think If such an offering was given for free, asking for more would be unthinkable. Well, Israel does not share this opinion.
Israel still has the “problem” of “getting rid” of Palestinians. Instead of quitting the plans to build more settlements in the densely populated Palestinian areas or giving the Palestinians their stolen lands back, Israel thought of a “typical Israeli” solution: taking a land it does not own to solve its problems; this time it is Egypt’s.
The Jewish state wants to give the Palestinians Egypt’s Sinai, which it occupied in 1967, and then was forced to leave after the Agreement that followed the October 1973 war launched by Egypt to regain its land. Israeli Minister of Social Equality Gila Gamliel suggested in November 2017 establishing a new Arab state for the Palestinians in Sinai Peninsula. Gamliel made the Egyptians furious and Egypt’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned her remarks. Little did the Egyptian public know that the Israeli Prime Minister himself proposed the very same idea back in 2014.
Netanyahu wanted the Obama administration to “consider a plan in which Israel would annex large parts of the West Bank, and the Palestinians would in return receive land from Egypt in the northern part of Sinai”. This blatant suggestion was not the only stunning thing revealed by the Haaretz report, the reaction of the American officials mentioned in the story was also baffling. The officials thought Netanyahu’s suggestion was a waste of time not because Egypt – owner of the land – would refuse, no; but because they thought the Palestinians would be the ones rejecting the offer: “why would they trade agricultural lands in the West Bank, close to their largest cities, for sand dunes in Sinai?” - one of the officials said. The other said: “Northern Sinai is home to one of the most powerful ISIS-inspired insurgencies in the world. Why would the Palestinians agree to take responsibility for it”!
The Haaretz report magically coincided with the alleged leaks “revealed” by the New York times which amusingly strove to prove how Egypt was publicly denouncing President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, while secretly working on convincing the public opinion with the decision. The article was heavily criticized in Egypt not only from the government but also from the public. Integrity of New York Times was questioned since the report lacked substantiated information, and mentioned individuals who had nothing to do with the political scene in the country.
Perhaps these recent reports were aiming to gauge Egyptian public opinion, or maybe it was a way of forcing a new reality by giving it time to materialize just like Trump’s Jerusalem decision, the reason is yet to be revealed, but what is certain here is that Egypt’s reaction is far from satisfying. It is true Haaretz report said Egypt rejected Netanyahu’s suggestion, and that the Egyptian Chief Prosecutor Nabil Sadiq said the Times report “"undermines Egypt's security, and hurts the public's interest”, consequently ordering a criminal probe into the alleged recordings, but this is not enough to shut down these continuous efforts to “cement” the idea on the ground. Egypt must stop this lame joke once and for all.