For the Arab world, this conflict was a way for countries to profile themselves, or a split, says correspondent Daisy Mohr. Egypt took a leading role by mediating between Israel and Hamas. Mohr: “Egypt has historically done that more often, in 2014 a file was also established with the help of Egypt.”
Egypt likes to establish itself as the leader of the Arab world. The country frequently refers to Cairo as the seat of the Arab League, and their mediating role aids in their diplomatic ambition.
After reaching the ceasefire, US President Biden praised Egypt and President Sisi, who “played a critical role with his diplomacy”.
For Sisi very nice to hear, says Mohr: “Sisi was called Trump’s most beloved dictator, but under Biden the relationship is different, with more attention to human rights. So that Biden now praises Sisi is a gain for him.”
For other Arab countries it is mainly a sigh of relief. Last year, normalization agreements were signed between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. The Palestinians saw it as a betrayal, because Arab countries previously made it a condition not to normalize ties with Israel until there was a Palestinian state.
In the reactions to the violence on the Israeli side you could clearly see the struggle in those countries, according to Mohr: “The tone was different from, for example, in 2014. For these countries this conflict felt very uncomfortable.”
When the agreements were concluded, its own very pro-Palestinian population was told that this actually made it more possible to put pressure on Israel to resolve the conflict with the Palestinians. Mohr: “That turns out not to be the case now.”
As yet, little of Biden’s hope for structural peace can be found among the population in Arab countries. “With all the conflicts here in the region, people think: ‘see first, then believe’.”
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