Israel does not want war with Egypt… Let’s preserve the peace

Since the outbreak of the confrontation between Israel and the terrorists of the Iranian regime’s mullahs, and the entry of the United States into the scene with clear responsibility and alignment with the free world against the forces of darkness and terrorism, including the striking of the three nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, everyone has been preoccupied with this critical confrontation and its repercussions.

However, in Egypt, my homeland, a grim scene repeats itself everywhere in newspapers, websites, and audio-visual media by followers of the ruling military regime, whether directly or indirectly. Phrases such as “Israel will finish Iran and then fight Egypt,” or “It’s our turn after Iran,” or “Israel is postponing Egypt to be the last battleground before dominating the entire Middle East” are repeatedly heard. These alarming statements deserve thorough study, perhaps even a dedicated booklet to document them. I will summarize the scene in five key facts that encapsulate the whole picture.

First: The phone call between President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, during which El-Sisi expressed Egypt’s full rejection of Israeli escalation against Iran, considering it a threat to the security and stability of the Middle East.

Second: Statements by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, Dr. Badr Abdel Aati, before the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul, alongside official ministry statements and his communications with his counterparts worldwide, including the Iranian Foreign Minister. The minister appeared as if a mouthpiece beautifying the ruling regime in Tehran and portraying Israel as the aggressor, ignoring the eternal slogan of the Guardianship of the Jurist regime: “Death to America, death to Israel,” which translates on the ground through their terrorist proxies.

Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. The Egyptian minister overlooked Iran’s role in orchestrating the bloody scene, referring specifically to the terrorist events of October 7, 2023, executed by their Hamas proxy.

Third: The institutional support from Al-Azhar, which issued harsh statements against Israel after the confrontation began, describing Israel’s legitimate self-defense as aggression against Iran, a blatant violation of international law, and a threat to regional peace. Al-Azhar also warned that the continuation of what it termed “Israeli arrogance” could push the region toward destructive chaos, calling on the international community to bear its ethical responsibilities. Two days ago, Al-Azhar’s Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb tweeted in Arabic and Persian, condemning the ongoing Israeli aggression against Iran, describing the attacks as “continuous hooliganism” threatening a full-scale war with no winners except arms and blood traders, and considering international silence as complicity in the crime. The disaster is that this stance represents the “fortress of moderate Sunni Islam,” reflected in the sermons of thousands of imams from pulpits. I ask myself: If this is moderate Islam, then what is ISIS?

Fourth: The dangerous statements of retired Major General Samir Faraj, who was a commander and mentor to President El-Sisi, made through satellite channels, most recently on Al Jazeera with host Ahmed Taha, known for his support of terrorist movements. Faraj said, “The entire Egyptian people sympathize with Iran, and our enemy is Israel.” I challenge him to mention a single incident where Israel harmed Egypt. On the contrary, Egyptian treachery reached the extent of supplying Hamas terrorists with weapons through tunnels to commit the massacres of October 7. Despite this, Israel refrained from escalation to preserve peace with Egypt. I clearly say: he does not represent me. On the contrary, I see Israel as a friendly state, and the mullah regime as an enemy to anyone who truly belongs to the human community. The tragedy is that this man is part of the Egyptian decision-making kitchen, regarded as a thinker and strategic expert who must be listened to… and that is the greatest disaster. He has clearly revealed what the military truly conceals about Israel. I hope Israeli officials are not deceived by the sweet talk they hear behind closed doors. Everything they hear is a lie… and Samir Faraj summarized the truth very clearly.

Fifth: I learned from multiple sources inside Cairo that intellectuals and journalists adopt a rhetoric of political adolescence that longs for war with Israel as if it were a wishful fantasy. What is happening is the result of accumulated hatred and hostility toward Israel in the Egyptian collective mind, as a consequence of the regime’s investment in hostility instead of peace. This happens despite the fact that since the peace treaty on March 26, 1979, Israel has only brought good to Egypt: it returned Sinai completely, dealt with hostility in a civilized manner after the assassination of the great President Anwar Sadat, mediated in Washington to support the regime after eliminating the Muslim Brotherhood, helped Egypt in the real part of the war on terrorism in Sinai, supplied us with gas through facilitated methods considering the struggling circumstances, among other matters deserving a separate article.

I say to all of them: Israel does not want war with Egypt, and the ruling regime there masters maintaining peace with us by all means. I address the wise minds capable of participating in decision-making: which is more deserving of support the Egyptians and the honorable in the world, or the mullah regime that has only brought ruin and destruction upon us and our brethren?

I have come to fear for my beloved country Egypt, which has been deliberately alienated for more than seven years. I had no choice but to go into exile to preserve my life from the military’s adventures that might drag us into the unknown. As George Washington concluded through his pioneering experience: “A military government is dangerous to liberty, because the power which rises from force seldom ends at the limits of reason.”