Doaa Abdel Latif - Cairo

Three years ago, the term “deal of the century” was used by political analysts without clear proofs, and media reports are submitted by unknown sources, and officials refer to it in several countries in obscurity, but the authority in Egypt - with or without intent - raised the curtain on Term, and even provided support.

"You will find me with full force and clarity in support of any endeavor to find a solution to the Palestinian issue in the deal of the century, and I am sure you can solve it." This is how the ears of the world heard for the first time the term "deal of the century" by a political leader, and the saying was Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, in April 2017.

It is noteworthy that Sisi used the term outside the closed rooms, while Trump himself did not utter it in an official meeting or a press statement or even his tweets on social media platforms, and the American President at the time was satisfied with responding to his Egyptian counterpart, saying, "We will do this together, we will fight terrorism together and our friendship will extend for a long time." ".

And with Trump announcing the details of what he called the "Middle East peace plan", Cairo is trying to appear among the watchers, without at the same time stripping off the robe of the supporter and participant in making that plan.

dodge

But it seems that Sisi does not want to wear the dress of the participant in making the entire deal, in front of the Egyptian and Arab public opinion. The man denies accepting the plan, and even continues to accuse the media of being called the "Deal of the Century".

In November 2018, Sisi said - during the World Youth Forum - that he does not have information, and that the deal of the century is a proposal by the media, adding that Egypt cannot speak on behalf of or on behalf of the Palestinians, or that Cairo imposes anything on them .

The pro-Palestinian media presented the Egyptian president's statements as putting an end to the rumors of the deal of the century. Al-Sisi said that the questions raised by some Egyptians about the possibility of neglecting some of the Egyptian lands are confusing and made him wonder: "Do Egyptians know him well?"

"Nobody can do anything against the will of the Egyptians," he said, again accusing the media of having called the "Deal of the Century" the US peace plan.

Media leaks

Egypt's relationship with the century deal was also revealed by the recordings of the American newspaper "New York Times" for Egyptian media personnel receiving instructions from a sovereign authority official named "Ashraf El-Khouly," after Trump announced the transfer of the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

The recordings, published by the New York Times, in January 2018, included instructions for the media to address Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in a way that paves the way for public opinion to accept the decision, while the State Information Service denied these leaks, describing them as lies.

But the opposition "complementary" channel broadcast these audio recordings, as the voice of those who said it was the responsible officer appeared as he asked the media to repeat the idea of ​​"what is the difference between Jerusalem and Ramallah" as the capital of the Palestinian state.

Several moves

Less than a year after Sisi's statement about the century deal, the White House announced - in January 2018 - that his adviser Jared Kushner had met the Egyptian president as part of his meetings in the Middle East on a long-awaited plan he prepared for peace between Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Last August, the United States embassy in Cairo revealed the scenes of the Trump-Sisi meeting, before the bilateral meeting that brought them together on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in France, where the embassy quoted - in a statement - Trump's emphasis on the importance of Sisi in passing the deal of the century.

"President Sisi is a very important figure in the peace plan, and Trump is working very hard and efficiently on this issue, we want to see if we can reach a deal by looking at what is going on between the Israelis and the Palestinians," Trump said.

Sinai .. denial and confirmation

In a report, the Hebrew newspaper "Israel Today" revealed an internal document that was leaked at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, regarding the details of the century plan.

Among the details that the document mentioned is that Egypt will grant new land to Palestine, with the aim of establishing an airport, factories and a place for commercial exchange and agriculture, without allowing the Palestinians to live in it, and a "highway" road between Gaza and the West Bank is allowed, and it is allowed to establish a conveyor for treated water "tunnels" between Gaza and the West Bank .

However, the US envoy to the Middle East, Jason Greenblatt, denied that the US President's peace plan for the Middle East included granting land from the Sinai to the Palestinians.

The denial also came from the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, who affirmed that "there is no waiver of an atom or a grain of sand from Sinai."

swap

In the face of the role that Egypt plays in completing the deal of the century, the question appears urgent and logical about the reason that prompted Egypt to play this role, and the price that it might get.

The Israeli newspaper "Haaretz" answers this question through a report published on the eve of Sisi's statements about the deal of the century, in April 2017, where she clarified the goals of both the American and Egyptian presidents from the meeting in Washington.

She stated that Sisi has three main goals: to increase economic aid, military assistance to combat terrorism, and to include the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.

While the report pointed out that Trump has other requests, the most important of which is Egypt's greater involvement in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, and to ensure that Cairo will not obstruct decisions related to Tel Aviv, or turn east toward Russia and Iran.

We cannot talk about the price of the deal without referring to an economic workshop held in the Bahraini capital, Manama, under the title "Peace for Prosperity", which was considered by observers as the economic plan for the "deal of the century".

Initially, Egypt denied participating in the workshop, which was known in the media as the "Manama Conference," then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs returned to confirm the participation symbolically under the name of "listener participant."

According to the economic plan published by the White House two days before the Manama workshop, the donor countries contribute about fifty billion dollars, 28 billion of which go to the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, 9.176 billion to Egypt, 7.5 billion to Jordan, and 6 billion to Lebanon.