To help Israel, Washington needs to get tougher on Cairo

Cairo is becoming a spoiler in the current Israel-Hamas war, and the U.S. must take action to reverse Egypt’s posture. 

The Egyptian government prevented humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, denied displaced Palestinians temporary refuge in Sinai and blew a hostage deal. Apparently, the Egyptians think U.S.-Israeli tensions over Israel’s Rafah offensive and top U.S. policymakers’ difficult relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will provide cover for Cairo’s actions. 

Washington must make clear to Cairo that such thinking is wrong.

Washington should instead stress that Cairo’s current policies toward Gaza are making it an unconstructive player in regional peace talks. Cruel policies that increase the suffering of Palestinians, just so they can be used for aggressive media campaigns against Jerusalem, are not what is expected of a meditator in times of crisis. A more balanced approach is needed to address Israeli security concerns and ease the humanitarian situation. 

Egypt has rejected all U.S. requests to let aid enter Gaza since the Israelis took over the Rafah crossing on May 7. This led Washington to publicly voice a rare criticism of the Egyptian government. Secretary of State Antony Blinken used his appearance at a hearing in the House of Representatives to urge Cairo to change its attitude. 

The dire situation inside Gaza also led President Joe Biden to call President Sisi himself to let the United Nations aid enter Gaza temporarily until agreements are reached with Israel. Cairo insists that Palestinians must control the Rafah crossing, but that’s not accepted by either Jerusalem or Ramallah. 

The Israelis cannot trust the Palestinian side, whose demand for an Israeli commitment to a two-state solution is a non-starter for the Netanyahu government. Meanwhile, pro-Egyptian state media have been smearing the U.S.-built pier by declaring it is nothing more than a tool to move Palestinians out of Gaza by sea. 

Since the very beginning of the war, Cairo has rejected the notion that Palestinians can take temporary refuge in Egypt until the war ends. Reports claim that rich Gulf capitals offered financial incentives to induce Egypt to accept refugees, to no avail. Instead, an Egyptian tourism company with close ties to the security establishment offered its services to rich Gazans who could afford to pay $5,000 per adult and $2,500 for children under 16 to enter Egypt. 

Egypt’s brutality toward unwanted Palestinian refugees has been documented. Two weeks ago, in a social media post that quickly spread across the Arab world, a video showed Egyptian security border personnel beating a young Gazan for crossing the border.

A recent CNN report indicated that Cairo played a double game, covertly changing the terms of a ceasefire proposal that could have led to a deal in which Hamas released Israeli hostages in exchange for a temporary ceasefire. Egypt changed the deal text and wanted to coerce Jerusalem into accepting a bad deal by presenting Hamas-friendly language that the terror group would quickly accept. 

Clearly, the Egyptians wanted to change the narrative from “Hamas is the impediment to a deal” to “Hamas accepts, but Israel rejects the deal.” Cairo was likely angered by Israel’s decision to launch its Rafah operation, which Israeli officials say has, so far, led to the discovery of 50 tunnels and rocket launchers along the Egyptian border.

Cairo is squandering a golden opportunity to play an instrumental role in the current Gaza crisis. The decision to join South Africa in its International Court of Justice case, and unhelpful statements and resolutions coming from Egypt’s permanent representative at the United Nations, do not reassure the Israelis. 

It is obvious the Egyptians are trying to save face and distract attention from their longstanding game in Gaza, where it told both Washington and Jerusalem that the situation was under control, even as it looked the other way as Hamas dug tunnels and smuggled weapons. 

Washington must have a tough conversation with Cairo and, if necessary, publicly call it out for its unhelpful role. Blinken’s comments in the House are a start, but the Biden administration needs to drive home the message. 

Egypt should remember that just seven months ago, before the Oct. 7 crisis, it struggled to find a definitive role in current Middle East politics. Tehran and Arab Gulf capitals dominated key regional issues, and, in the Palestinian arena, both Turkey and Qatar had eclipsed Egypt with their financial and ideological ties to Islamist Hamas.

Now, with the ongoing Israeli weakening of Hamas, Cairo is likely to benefit from the vacuum the Jewish state is creating in the Palestinian arena. But so far, Egypt’s performance hasn’t been satisfying. Elaph, a Saudi newspaper, reported that an Israeli official in London told his Gulf counterparts his government thinks the Qatari mediation is better than the Egyptian, despite current strained relations.

To incentivize Cairo to change its policy, Washington should make it clear that Cairo could become the key interlocutor if it starts acting responsibly, and can expect to be marginalized if it doesn’t. 

Following this U.S. lead, Egypt could take the driver’s seat on Israeli-Palestinian matters, even at the expense of other regional powers. This could include promoting Egypt as a host for future conferences related to Gaza reconstruction, and diplomatic peace talks, which would likely boost its domestic and international standing. 

The decision will be Cairo’s — but only if Washington forces it properly.

Haisam Hassanein is an adjunct fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where he’s analyzing Israel’s relations with Arab states and Muslim countries.