US faces “difficult questions” over Egyptian ties to Gaza ceasefire | New Israel-Palestine Conflict

US President Joe Biden has renewed his view of the US relationship with Egypt – and his commitment to counter human rights abuses committed by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s government – after 11 days deadly violence On the Gaza Strip.

This month Washington has relied on Egyptian mediators to go to and from Tel Aviv and Gaza. ceasefire between Israel, which rules the besieged Palestinian territory, and the Palestinian faction Hamas.

Thus, the Biden administration has had long questions about Egypt’s commitment to taking a “human rights-based” approach, as some of these countries have long acted as interlocutors in the Israel-Palestine conflict. both Israel and Hamas.

He was preceded by the President of the United States he said there would be no “more white check” for el-Sisi, who called the former Donald Trump’s “favorite dictator,” but some rights advocates say Biden has fallen short of that commitment.

“Once again, we see that nothing has changed,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the Washington-DC-based think tank Arab World Democracy Now (DAWN).

“[Antony] Blinken did not meet with a single civil society representative during a stop in Cairo, “said the US Secretary of State. visit to the Egyptian capital in favor of the ceasefire last week.

“He didn’t say more about human rights [former Secretary of State Mike] The Pompeo and Trump administration in front of him. “

‘Strategic partnership’

In two calls between Biden and el-Sisi this month – the first since Biden took office in January – the U.S. president “thanked Egypt for its successful diplomacy,” the White House read. “President Biden has stressed the importance of a constructive dialogue on human rights in Egypt,” the statement added.

During a visit to Cairo on Wednesday, Blinken also affirmed the U.S.’s “strategic partnership” with Egypt.

He told reporters that he had “a long debate and exchange on human rights” with the Egyptian leader who came to power in 2013. military coup which ousted President Mohamed Morsi. It was El-Sisi lately Re-elected in 2018, with almost no opponents, his main challenge was arrested and several candidates left citing fear.

Seth Binder, head of defense for the Middle East Democracy (POMED) project, said a statement of gratitude from the Biden administration had “misread” the situation and sent the wrong message to Cairo.

An important meeting today with Egyptian President Sisi. President Biden thanked Egypt for its critical mediation on the ceasefire and reaffirmed the strategic cooperation between the United States and Egypt. pic.twitter.com/NzW83ivpAC

– Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) May 26, 2021

“The Egyptians are doing it for their own interest,” he told Al Jazeera. “We don’t have to lean back to try to congratulate them for doing what they do in their best interests.

“We can still work with them in mediating the ceasefire, and at the same time continue to put pressure and focus on human rights in the relationship.”

El-Sisi’s “availability”

For El-Sisi, Gaza’s mediation time has been “mana from heaven,” said Michele Dunne, director and chief fellow of the Middle East’s Carnegie Endowment for International Peace program.

He added to the importance of the Egyptian leader, who wanted the Biden administration to focus its foreign policy on the Middle East and other parts of the world, and allowed el-Sisi to “demonstrate its usefulness,” Dunn told Al Jazeera.

This time, the Egyptian president stated that he reaped the political benefits of working as a mediator with Hamas The 2014 Gaza War, in which he treated Hamas as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and sided with Israeli attacks.

“I am confident that Sisi hopes that his usefulness in contacting Hamas and perhaps his usefulness in assisting humanitarian aid in Gaza will overcome human rights and other issues in US-Egypt relations,” Dunn said.

The latest round of engagement has been fought not only with the position expressed by el-Sisi in the Biden administration, but also with U.S. lawmakers who have become increasingly critical of U.S. military support in Egypt.

Pressure in Biden

In recent years, Congress has regularly approved the law to ensure that the State Department ensures that Egypt is taking steps to comply with human rights regulations before releasing funds.

Last year, Congress passed a $ 75 million bill that would allow Cairo to release political prisoners and meet other human rights standards, and does not include provisions to waive the State Department.

Some in the United States have questioned Egypt’s broader strategic importance, once Cairo’s influence in the Arab world was considered certain, control of the Suez Canal – the trade route linking the Mediterranean and the Red Sea – and its land border with the Gaza Strip. .

However, the Biden administration has shown that it may not conduct a policy review, accepting rights advocates and some legislators in despair. $ 197 million in sales Egypt missiles and related equipment in February.

That’s when the State Department’s annual human rights report cleared up a list of abuses in Egypt, including extrajudicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances, crackdowns on journalists and political opponents, and violence against the LGBTQ community.

The El-Sisi government has overseen an extensive arrest campaign against human rights defenders, journalists and other perceived critics – and there are still about 60,000 Egyptian prisoners.

U.S. rights activists in Egypt also recently accused The Egyptian government has arrested relatives in Egypt as a way to put pressure on them in silence – an accusation that el-Sisi has dismissed, but rights groups have raised a serious alarm.

“The current conflict has created uncomfortable questions and political dilemmas that the Biden administration does not want to address,” Dunn told Al Jazeera. “And they will face a lot of difficult decisions.”