As news of popular protests in Egypt react to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and analysis continues about his chances of staying in power, some questions address Washington's position on what is happening in Egypt, and the limits of its intervention or reservation to keep Sisi in power or replace him.

US officials do not hide that the first strategic consideration that governs their position on what is happening in Egypt has always been the Egyptian relationship with Israel.

Relationship with Israel
In this regard, Sisi achieved great success with the testimony of Israeli leaders and Israeli research centers. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly expressed his admiration for Sisi's role and praised his "wisdom", "courage" and "friendship".

"During my meetings with President Sisi, I got a great impression not only from his leadership but also from his intelligence," Netanyahu said at one time. "I got a lot of useful insights from him on the kind of challenge we face, and we discussed together how best to address those challenges."

The Israeli National Security Research Center concluded that "promoting and ensuring the stability of the Sisi regime is a national interest of Israel."

Egyptian Military Establishment
Despite the personal aspect of the relationship with Israel, the status and cohesion of the Egyptian military are the key to that relationship. Therefore, Sisi's stay in power should not be at the expense of the unity and effectiveness of the military, according to that vision.

There are doubts, however, as Sisi removed a number of senior officers who had previously helped him, and sent former army chief of staff Lieutenant General Sami Annan to prison after trying to compete in the 2018 presidential election.

The military establishment in Egypt is seen as the dominant authority and reference for any political change in the country, with weak structures, political and party forces and civil society organizations.

This is what former US Ambassador to Cairo Anne Patterson said when she said that the army had removed Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011, and that he had removed Mohamed Morsi in 2013. "If someone is toppling Sisi, the Egyptian army will be."

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Political stability
In general, the United States and Israel have an interest in maintaining that kind of useful stability in Egypt. But there are divergent assessments of Sisi 's performance in this regard, especially in light of the concerns of some forces of what was described as the second wave of the Arab Spring that took place in Algeria and Sudan.

According to some assessments, Sisi has managed to stabilize, but at a very high and unsustainable cost. His rule relies on repression that the country has not known for decades, perhaps centuries.

According to other assessments, Sisi was unable to bring the country to real stability. Although he built his legitimacy on fighting what he calls "political Islam" and "extremist groups", he has prepared and suppressed all different currents, albeit to varying degrees.

"Restoring despotism, which was supposed to restore political stability to the Arab world and open the way to economic modernization, has failed," says journalist Jackson Dale of the Washington Post's editorial board.

He says Sisi imagined he could imitate the capitalist tyranny model developed and promoted by China and Russia, but failed because of corruption, a heavy capitalist grip on the state and inefficiency.

Personal relationship
But what about the personal relationship between Sisi and US President Donald Trump? Couldn't it be a lifeline for the Egyptian president?

Trump lavished praise on Sisi in several meetings, talked about good "chemistry" in that relationship, and saw Sisi succeeded in stabilizing Egypt, ending chaos and fighting terrorism.

But this relationship is another face revealed by press leaks, where Trump sees his Egyptian counterpart as a dictator and murderer who plays a useful role for the United States.

The latest is the Wall Street Journal, which said Trump jokingly asked, "Where is my favorite dictator?" While waiting for Sisi to meet him on the sidelines of the summit of the Group of Seven held in the French city of Biarritz last August.

Before that, veteran American journalist Bob Woodward said in his book "Fear .. Trump at the White House" that President Bush once described Sisi as "a fucking murderer."

Who turns his back?
This relationship has not always been fruitful for both sides. The US administration did not immediately respond to Sisi 's request to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group, and the request remains pending.

On the other hand, Sisi did not respond, according to press reports, US calls to join a regional strategic alliance to counter Iranian influence, called the media "Arab NATO."

Moreover, political analysis in Washington is differentiating in one way or another between the foreign policy run by US institutions and the international relations Trump personally forges and does not respect such traditions, such as his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

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Is Trump's support really important?
As part of its Middle East studies, the Carnegie Research Center put this question: Is Trump's support for Arab tyrants really important?

"What the United States is doing in the Middle East is not always decisive, but it is always influential," said Michele Dunne, an Egyptian scholar.

`` Trump's reception of Sisi on the eve of the popular referendum on the constitutional amendments (April 2019) that has kept the scepter of power in his hands for many years may have helped to stifle some of his critics, '' Dunn said. The Egyptian elite, however, would in fact mean nothing if the Egyptian people once felt that enough had been rushed from Sisi. "

Political researcher Amr Hamzawy also said that "my quick answer is absolutely no, because the longevity of tyranny and the failure of democratic transitions in many Arab countries are the outcome of local issues."

"The US administration's support for Arab despots (in Saudi Arabia and Egypt) or the absence of such support (as in Syria) did not change the disastrous course of events," he said.

"Arab political realities are a local phenomenon fueled by local factors," Hamzawy said. "External factors, including US policies, are secondary. This fact pulls itself to the question of President Donald Trump's support for Arab dictators. It can prevent their heads from being rolled over when democratic uprisings destroy their authoritarian stability. "

"Arab dictators need more than Trump's support to remain in power," says researcher Amy Hawthorne. "Like the autocrats everywhere, they often rely on local tools that include controlling the armed forces and police to crush the opposition. The media and education systems to shape public opinion, as well as state resources to finance networks of corruption. Moreover, they know how to exploit security threats and societal divisions to justify the need for security and order, and to establish enough fear or resignation, to deter most citizens from uprising. ''

"However, support from the US president is an added value that gives dictators global legitimacy, diplomatic breathing space, international funding, and weapons that allow them to extend their political lives."