Egyptian President Sisi made two key points during a ceremony marking the 53rd anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. First, he stated that there is no intention to go to war with Israel. Second, he affirmed that Egypt would do whatever Saudi Arabia requests (in the context of the conflict with the Houthis). In doing so, the Egyptian President shed light on two aspects of the new development within the Arab Israeli Middle East—a development we were the first to exclusively report. Essentially, he confirms our earlier report regarding an initiative (which originated in Ramallah) to establish an Arab axis alongside Israel, as a counterweight to the Iranian Turkish axis that seeks an Islamic Middle East governed by Sharia law. The Egyptian President thereby confirms our previous report that Egypt is coordinating with Ramallah. In that report, we noted that Saudi Arabia might also recalibrate the course it had charted with Turkey, potentially returning to the proposed Israeli Arab axis. Indeed, Saudi Arabia is currently weighing such a shift—though it has set conditions, foremost among them the resumption of negotiations with the Palestinians.

(Mati Cohen)