In the midst of dealing with our burning issues, the visit of the President of Egypt was pushed aside Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, in the Principality of Qatar. Al-Sisi landed on Tuesday at Doha International Airport and spent a whole day on Qatar soil as the official guest of Emir Tamim bin Hamed. It was his first visit to the principality since he assumed the presidency nine years ago, and a return visit to Sheikh Tamim, who landed in Cairo on one of the hot summer days of June.
It is still too early to know the depth of the reconciliation recorded this week between the two leaders. A cloud of burning hatred hovers over their relationship. Qatar has supported the Muslim Brotherhood movement for decades, and it has not stopped supporting even in the last decade, when al-Sisi declared war on them, and they returned fire.
During the difficult years, when the Egyptian regime was struggling with terrorism at home, the Qataris poured a lot of money into the brothers, and gave sponsorship and a home to those of them who escaped from the arms of Cairo. They established a TV channel for them that operated from Istanbul and financed other media. The Al Jazeera channel, under orders from above, never stopped attacking the Egyptian regime with fury and pointing out its weaknesses. The rift between them was almost complete, and each of them took the trouble to drip poison on the other.
Even in the talks to find a solution to the Gaza problem, the Egyptians and the Qataris did not talk to each other, even though their main task is political mediation. Israel and the UN used to pass messages between them when the need arose.
Apparently, it should not be surprising. These are two opposite entities. One is an ancient civilization of a hundred million citizens, a mostly urban society – admittedly with an absolutist regime – but also a legal system, vibrant political life, a history of regional influence, culture and creativity. Qatar, on the other hand, is a relatively new country, located on the edge of the Arabian Peninsula. Its population is made up of a coalition of tribes numbering only 200 thousand souls. If Qatar is a political, financial, regional start-up, and soon also a sporting success – Egypt is a good aunt that has run out of assets and is running heavily. It is one of the world’s largest exporters of working hands, compared to Qatar, which has the means, which absorbs and employs them.
And of course the impact: the small and bastard principality became one of the most important countries in the Middle East, as Egypt once was, before it sank into a host of complications. Back in the 1970s, the leaders of the region called the principalities of the Gulf, and Qatar among them, “shifting sands”. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat gave them the fragile title “Gelatin States”. But these small ones, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are now the financial mainstay of the large and traditional Arab capitals.
Silencing journalists
The 2022 World Cup games, which will open in two months in Doha, were a significant accelerator for the Qataris to eliminate every bump and conflict they have in the region. Someone might settle accounts with them in the midst of the prestigious enterprise, and thank God, the Qataris have a lot of evil-seekers.
Because of this, the Emir worked systematically during this year to reduce as much as possible the chance of unwanted surprises during the World Cup. He did not even hesitate to distance the Muslim Brotherhood from him in a series of overt measures. For example, his people ordered to shut down the television channels and media that operated with Qatari funding on Turkish soil. Earlier they even silenced senior journalists whose salary they financed, and forbade them to attack the Egyptian president directly.
And if we mentioned Turkey. Not surprisingly, Doha recorded a rapprochement towards Cairo at the same time as a similar move led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The President of Turkey has started in the last year a process of getting closer to Saudi Arabia on the one hand, and Israel on the other. He was not ashamed to grope his way to the White House as well. Qatar, close to Ankara, feared being left alone with Iran in the camp of the bad guys. Imagine how she would have arrived at the opening whistle on November 20: as a cause of trouble and tension and the friend of the number one leper. This is a recipe for a bad atmosphere, the kind that leaves many fans at home.
Instead, Qatar arrives at the opening ceremony with its head held high. All this because of her clever conduct, for example in the Egyptian case, thanks to her great wealth, and also thanks to her good luck. Until February, the emir calculated his steps carefully, striving to reach games with a minimum of enemies. But then the war in Ukraine landed on all of us. Putin has declared war not only on his neighbor, but on all of Europe.
American President Joe Biden, along with the leadership of the European Union, united against Putin for a campaign of sanctions and standing by Kyiv, but lost the continent’s largest supplier of gas for electricity production. Russian gas lights up Europe and fuels industry all over the continent. NATO countries were looking for a replacement and found Qatar. The emir, for his part, also jumped at the opportunity.
He immediately understood that the embrace from the West would bring the Qataris not only money, but also rehabilitation. The unruly state, a supporter of Hamas, a friend of the Muslim Brotherhood, a friend of the Al-Qaeda organization and various factions in Syria and Iraq, is sought after by the great powers of the world. Not Saudi Arabia, the traditional friend of the USA, and not the United Arab Emirates, its new friend, but the cruel and vengeful Qatar.
Even in the Egyptian case, as in Ukraine, the Qataris jumped at the opportunity that came before them. The Egyptian economy has always suffered hardships, but in the last year it reached its lowest point. Foreign currency reserves dwindled, and the government decided to reduce imported products. Inflation increased, and tourist traffic decreased, because most of them came from Russia and its neighbors.
Al-Sisi has recently often expressed concern for the food security of the masses of Egyptians. The depth of the distress could be heard between the lines, in what he said this week in front of the cameras. He mentioned the bloody events of 2011 that accompanied the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, and of 2013, in which President Mohammed Morsi was ousted from the Muslim Brotherhood. Then he expressed surprise, how is it that the public does not understand that it itself is required to pay for the material damage caused to the state’s economy. “If we calculate the value of the losses, we will find that we have lost 150 billion dollars,” he added.
The figure was not chosen by chance. This is the depth of the external debt. Egypt needs every dollar, and here at the price of reconciliation with Qatar, which is interested in rapprochement for its own reasons, Egypt may gain much more from it. Already in June, after the Emir’s visit to Cairo, the Qataris transferred 3 billion dollars to the Central Bank of Egypt. In Doha, al-Sisi met with Qatari investors and senior managers in the economy. He signed three memoranda of understanding, the most important of which anchors the cooperation between the Egyptian Investment and Development Fund and its counterpart in Qatar.
On Wednesday afternoon, close to the time of al-Sisi’s return home, the authorities in Cairo released the Al Jazeera reporter, the Egyptian Ahmed Elangadi. Two years ago, while returning to visit his homeland, Alangadi was arrested in Cairo on charges of publishing false information, and was sent to administrative detention. As he was imprisoned by instruction from above, so he was released.
His release is a tribute from al-Sisi to his new friends, and yet, there should be no confusion. In their hearts, the Egyptians despise the Qataris, and if there were smiles this week in Doha, it’s the economy, idiot. The existence of investments in the billions promises some healing for the Egyptian economy, and in their power to align the generations from the Emir’s point of view. But such a reconciliation does not happen overnight, but requires time and a lot of good will.
We will see the Qataris after the World Cup, if they will still be so nice, and the Egyptians, if they hurry to forgive their friends from the desert for years of bloodshed.
The writer is the commentator on Arab affairs of Gali IDF