Saudi Arabia puts pressure on Egypt over Muslim Brotherhood

Israeli analyst Yoni Ben-Menachem is assuming that Saudi Arabia is putting pressure on Egypt in order to reconcile with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, Almesryoon.com reported on Friday.

According to the Egyptian newspaper, the Israeli Hebrew website News One reported Ben-Menachem’s comment that, “Saudi Arabia needs the support of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas in order to reinforce a Sunni axis against Iran after the latter signed a nuclear deal with the P5+1 states.” Such an axis includes Qatar and Turkey, he pointed out as he gave his views following the recent short visit to Saudi by the leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal.

According to Ben-Menachem, the Brotherhood is attempting to use the Iranian nuclear deal to raise fears within the Arab world that this will destabilise the region, while it is hoping to reconcile with Al-Sisi in order to reinforce its existence in Gaza, as represented by Hamas. The movement will then, he claims, seek to annul the death sentence on ousted President Mohamed Morsi and other Brotherhood officials.

“In response to Saudi rapprochement with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas,” said the Israeli analyst, “Al-Sisi warned that both movements pose a danger to Arab national security.”

Ben-Menachem claimed that a number of Brotherhood leaders in exile have threatened to “turn the region upside down” if the death sentences are carried out by the Egyptian regime.

Saudi monarch King Salman’s policy differs to that of the late King Abdullah, who followed in the footsteps of the UAE and Egypt, which both banned Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. The opening of the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt, claimed Ben-Menachem, was a result of Saudi pressure on Al-Sisi, of which he expects more. However, he noted that Egypt, which is a beneficiary of Saudi financial aid, would not surrender easily to pressure because it recognises that the government in Riyadh needs Cairo as an ally.