The summit held this month by leaders of Egypt, Israel and the United Arab Emirates in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh was described by a recent article in the London-based Emirati daily Al-Arab as giving birth to an Arab-Israeli coalition.
According to a report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the paper said this coalition begins with economic and commercial cooperation among the three nations but is likely to develop into a security and military alliance as well. (Commercially, Israel and Egypt announced on March 16 that they are opening a new direct flight route between Ben-Gurion International Airport and Sharm el-Sheikh.)
The article stated, according to MEMRI: “Egyptian sources told Al-Arab that energy and food security are a ‘practical starting point for cooperation between the three countries, and for taking a step that Egypt was apparently reluctant to take [until now]—namely, taking its relations with Israel from the bilateral level to the regional one.’ ”