Israeli officials and journalists Monday gushed over a video showing Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi walking across a Cairo convention hall to personally greet Israeli Energy Minister Karine Elharrar at a conference.Sissi entered the large hall to fanfare, welcomed the convention’s guests, and then put down his mic to walk to the other side of the hall, where he spoke a few words with Elharrar.Elharrar, who uses a wheelchair, received international attention after infamously being unable to enter the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow last year.A spokesperson for Elharrar said Israelis are right to be enthused over Sissi’s warm welcome at the Egyptian Petroleum Show in Cairo.“The president approaching the minister, the fact that he said he is happy she came, and invited her to return, is super exciting and testifies to the fact that ties that were once under wraps have become public,” the spokesperson said.
It is a remarkable and touching moment.
Egyptian media mostly ignored the story from what I can tell, while some other Arab media covered it, or covered Israel's positive reaction to it.
On Twitter, the Arabic reaction to the move was mixed, with most praising Sisi and Egypt, and some pointing out that Elharrar is from a Moroccan Jewish family. (I don't know what language Sisi spoke to Elharrar.) And there were a few negative reactions as well as happens every time an Israeli is mentioned.
Altogether, the fact that Israel was represented in this conference at all, for the first time, is at least as significant. Normally Egyptian media, including official media, is hostile to Israel. The two original peace partners of Israel seem to always be walking a line between wanting to gain the economic benefits of working with Israel and keeping their antisemites happy.
There is no doubt that the Abraham Accords has warmed up the cold peace between Egypt and Israel.
The main Arab story about Karine Elharrar was not about Sisi's greetings, but about a comment she made at the conference. When asked what she thought about the possibility that Israeli gas might make its way to Lebanon via Egypt and Jordan, she answered that there's nothing wrong with that.
Lebanon had denied Israeli reports that any Israeli gas would reach that country under an agreement to transport Egyptian gas there, and Elharrar's response is being taken as confirmation that this is in fact true. Of course, Israeli natural gas seems to have special properties that can harm the Lebanese, judging from the crazed reactions to the story when it came out.
Both stories show how Israel is now an integral part of a Middle East that has been dead-set against that very possibility.
