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Egypt seeks Israeli investments to bolster its fragile economy

October 19, 2016 at 11:59 am

Israeli and American officials recently expressed their concerns regarding the possible collapse of the Egyptian regime led by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Israel’s Ynetnews reported yesterday.

“Indeed, in talks recently held between senior Israeli and American officials, concerns were raised over the stability of the Egyptian regime,” Ynetnews reported senior analyst Alex Fishman saying.

“With the two allies [America and Israel] agreeing that in the absence of any fundamental improvement in the Egyptian economy, social unrest could precipitate the pouring of Muslim Brotherhood forces into the streets to undermine the rule of General Al-Sisi,” Fishman added.

He also noted that Egyptian officials blame the economic crisis for the potential instability in their country, considering it a “major strategic threat”. Therefore, he said, “they are placing emphasis in Egypt and abroad on efforts to increase revenue and expand infrastructure.”

Fishman said that the economic cooperation between Israel and Egypt, which started with the Camp David Peace Treaty, had been reduced as Israel was not interested in it. However, he argued, Israel is currently considers it “strategic”

He revealed that Israel is preparing a “series of large-scale projects” to be carried out in Egypt, noting that the discussions on these projects reflect Israel’s “urgent need for improved infrastructure in Egypt”.

The Israeli analyst revealed that Israel and America are afraid that the “absence of any fundamental improvement in the Egyptian economy” could pave the way ahead of the Muslim Brotherhood to undermine the Sisi regime.

About the kind of projects, Fishman revealed that Israel is planning to assist Egypt in the field of solar energy, electricity production, agriculture, irrigation, gas and sea water desalinisation. He also said that Egypt wants to expand the cooperation to the tourism sector.

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