Israel Hayom: Israel is in a cold war with Egypt!

The repercussions of the major gas deal between Egypt and Israel continue to resonate in the Israeli media, and in a remarkable move, Israel Hayom newspaper has called for exploiting the deal to blackmail the Egyptian state.

The Israeli newspaper said in a report, Friday that Israel now wields significant influence over Egypt, stating that for years, Egypt has relied on Israeli gas for its survival.

Without this supply, the country will suffer widespread power outages, especially after the signing of the massive deal under which 130 million cubic meters of gas will be sold to Egypt.

The Israeli newspaper explained that despite the formal peace treaty, Egypt behaves toward Israel as an adversary with a massive army that can target Israel at any time.

According to Israel Hayom: “Officially, there is a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, but in practice, their southwestern neighbor is a real competitor… Like Little Red Riding Hood, the Israelis ask Egypt: Why do you have such a large army? Why is Israel their main threat? What is the purpose of building tunnels and expanding runways in Sinai? And what is the justification for introducing troops into the peninsula without Israel’s consent and in violation of the peace treaty?”

Israel Hayom continued, “There are no definitive answers to these questions, so especially after the surprise events of October 7, 2023, its worth recalling the words of former Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi: Egypt has a large army, with advanced weapons, aircraft and submarines, and a large number of tanks and infantry fighters.

Halevi noted that, “According to estimates, this doesn’t currently pose a threat, but the situation could change at any moment”.

The report added that Egypt regularly challenges Israel in the political arena, which is one of the reasons for its refusal to absorb the residents of Gaza—even temporarily—or grant them land in Sinai.

“It doesn’t want this people to be provoked by it—but it also makes sense for it to fight us, and from President el Sisi’s point of view, it kills two birds with one stone”.

The report pointed to what it described as “hatred of Israel among the Egyptian elites, the working class, on social media, and in the Egyptian media,” noting “the mines Egypt is planting against Israel in international institutions,” considering that “all of this brings us closer to a cold war than a cold peace”.

The report stated that “the great irony is that Israel possesses significant influence” to pressure Egypt… This influence, from the newspaper’s perspective, is represented by several factors:

Americans: As Israel’s repeated assistance to Cairo in the halls of Washington over the years, and deemed it possible and appropriate to change course and draw Congress’s attention to what is happening.

Gas: Egypt’s years-long reliance on Israeli gas for survival, as without it, the country would suffer widespread power outages.

Furthermore, the Egyptian economy would lose financial revenues from selling the gas it purchases from Israel to Europe.

The report emphasized that halting gas flow would represent a significant loss for Egypt as a source of income.

Israel Hayom’s report explained that this alleged influence is becoming increasingly apparent following the recently announced mega-deal.

According to the plan, Egypt will purchase 130 million cubic meters of gas from the Leviathan field over the next 14 years, for a total sum of $35 billion.

The Israeli newspaper pointed out that the person authorized to approve the signing is Energy Minister Eli Cohen.

“As a former foreign minister and a man with a sober regional vision, Cohen understands the enormous political value of this deal and won’t decide to approve it alone, but rather will do so in consultation with the prime minister… It’s clear that they have a powerful pressure tool, but the question is: Will they use it?”

Israel Hayom concluded its report by saying, “It’s time to make it clear to Egypt that we are no longer playing the fool… It’s time for Israel to act like a mature state and use its available economic and energy resources to advance this national interest”.