Egypt’s semi-official daily Al Ahram headlined its Sept. 17 editorial on the strategic importance of the summit of Arab and Islamic nations held over Sept. 15 before in Doha, “A Turning Point.” The turning point refers both to the Sept. 9 Israeli strike on Doha, and to the unity it provoked from the leaders of the Arab and Islamic nations, who met in emergency session in response. Should the United States not stop Israel’s Netanyahu, a general war in the region could result.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s strike against Doha was “the straw that broke the camel’s back after two years of endless war crimes the Israeli enemy carried out in Gaza,” Al Ahram wrote. The strike aimed “to terminate any attempts to end the war in Gaza,” and made clear that Netanyahu intends “to impose a new order in the Middle East whereby Israel is the dominant thug which maintains the freedom to strike wherever it wants, regardless of any international laws or the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.”
The counter-message sent by the Doha summit is that the Arab and Muslim world “will never submit to this new, illegitimate order,” and will escalate if Israel, backed by the United States, continues on this course.
“What should be worrying to Israel is that key Arab countries that were among the first to sign peace treaties with it, topped with Egypt and Jordan, were also among the most critical of its ongoing crimes in Gaza and plans to forcibly deport its population.” But it is unlikely that Israel will heed these warnings as long as Netanyahu’s extremist government remains in office, Al Ahram wrote.
“Yet, Egypt and other key Arab nations that maintain historically close and strategic ties with the United States continue to maintain a minimal level of hope that U.S. President Trump will restrain his country’s closest ally, whose survival depends on endless supply of U.S. weapons and diplomatic protection.
“That,” the Egyptian daily warns, “would be the only way to save the entire Middle East from going back to eras of endless wars and confrontations that none of its governments and peoples want.”
