Levanon believes that Presidents Biden and Sisi are on the path of confrontation and confrontation over the issue of human rights in Egypt. But he wonders when this will happen?
The former Israeli ambassador to Cairo, Isaac Levanon, said that many in Egypt do not know the true reason behind the sudden release of Al-Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein from Egyptian prisons several days ago.
Ambassador Levanon reviewed in an article in the Israeli newspaper Maariv under the title “The Egyptian President should fear Biden, and think whether he will continue on Obama’s path,” the reasons and factors that he believes will necessitate Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, “fear” of the American president’s administration Joe Biden, pointing out that the possibility of a clash and confrontation between Cairo and Washington will be contained in human rights files and issues.
Wallpapers release of Hussain
In the introduction to his article, Levanon explained that Mahmoud Hussein, a producer in the Al-Jazeera media network, was imprisoned four years ago without filing an indictment, without trial and even without conviction, for allegedly calling for rebellion and revolution and spreading false news.
According to the Israeli diplomat – who was an ambassador in Cairo between 2009 and 2011 – the belief prevailing outside Egypt regarding the release of journalist Hussein is that the will of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is behind this release, as Sisi seeks to reduce – even a little – the possibility of confrontation. And the clash with the new administration of US President Joe Biden on human rights issues.
Some believe that the release of the journalist Hussein is also a tribute to the Americans, who contributed to resolving the Gulf crisis, reconciliation and settlement between Qatar, Egypt and Gulf countries, which allowed for the restoration of full diplomatic relations between all the countries concerned.
Levanon confirmed that after the overthrow of the late Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, who belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood movement, relations between Qatar and Egypt deteriorated, and the Israeli ambassador claimed in his article that Qatar exploited Al-Jazeera and employed it to confront and contradict Sisi, who responded by closing its offices in Egypt and pursuing its men, and Mahmoud Hussein was one of them .
The former Israeli ambassador to Cairo, Isaac Levanon (Al-Jazeera)human rights
Referring to the US-Egyptian relations, the Israeli diplomat says, “For many years, the US Congress and Barack Obama’s administration were dissatisfied with the negative stance of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak towards social organizations operating in Egypt, and human rights violations in the country.
This was one of the reasons why Obama viewed Mubarak and his followers with dissatisfaction, as he worked to topple him in the 2011 revolution, he says.
Levanon believes that the disagreement and the rift between the two sides “was so deep that the American administration preferred, for some inexplicable reason, to install the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt instead of keeping Mubarak and his followers in power.”
Levanon believes that human rights files and issues are the subject closest to Obama’s heart and the hearts of democrats, as Sisi now fears that Biden will follow in the footsteps of former President Barack Obama in this file, which sparked a dispute between Sisi and the Obama administration.
Sisi’s fears
Levanon refers to part of the pressures facing the Biden administration in the context of its relations with the Sisi regime, as a group of Democratic American members of Congress established a human rights forum in Egypt, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the outbreak of the Egyptian revolution, and they stated that its goal is to assess and review the course of relations with Cairo. It was a move that angered the Egyptian parliament, and Sisi saw in it a red card and a question mark about the future.
Levanon draws attention to pressure from another front, as “dozens of Egyptian prisoners wrote from inside their detention camps to President Biden, reminding him of his statement during the election campaigns that he will not cooperate with dictators and dictators, in a hint to Sisi.”
The Israeli diplomat estimates that the Egyptian president is in dilemma and confused about him, as Sisi believes that the enemies of Egypt are working to bring him down, and he has to defend himself by all means and means, and he sees in every part of their posts a plot against him; But at the same time, he does not want Biden to anger.
As a result of all this, the move to release Al-Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein could be a message to Biden, Levanon said.
Biden hesitated
On the American side, the Israeli diplomat believes that President Biden has also become hesitant, as he was a partner in Obama’s decisions and is well aware of what anger against Egypt means, and he realizes that Sisi was in harmony with former President Trump, a situation that should be ended.
Levanon concludes that Presidents Biden and Sisi are on the path of confrontation and confrontation over the issue of human rights in Egypt. But he wonders when this will happen? Will they work before that to prevent him for the sake of burning and pressing strategic issues in the Middle East?
More policy
.
