Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
In a sharp and unambiguous response to recent comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Egyptian journalist and head of the State Information Service, Diaa Rashwan, warned that any attempt by Israel to unilaterally terminate its gas export agreement with Egypt would be a self-defeating move. Speaking on the television program Strategia, hosted by Motaz Abdel Fattah on Al-Mashhad TV, Rashwan addressed Netanyahu’s threats, asserting that the Israeli premier is playing a dangerous game with regional stability.
“I would strongly advise Netanyahu if he truly believes he can cancel the gas agreement with Egypt, let him do it. But he must be prepared to shoulder the economic consequences. Politically, he will be the loser,” Rashwan stated firmly.
The agreement in question refers to the cross-border natural gas deal that has been a key element of the evolving energy cooperation between Egypt and Israel. In recent years, both nations have benefited from energy trade, with Egypt re-exporting Israeli gas after liquefaction at its facilities. Netanyahu’s recent threats to suspend the agreement are widely seen as a pressure tactic amid rising regional tensions linked to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Rashwan dismissed Netanyahu’s insinuation that Egypt is dependent on a single energy source, calling it a “myth.” He emphasized that the Egyptian government is fully prepared for any disruptions and has contingency plans and alternatives in place to secure the country’s energy needs.
The Egyptian official also responded to Netanyahu’s inflammatory claims that hostages and weapons have been smuggled through tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. Rashwan pointed out that these allegations are being used by Israel to justify its military presence along the Philadelphi Corridor, the narrow strip of land along the Egypt-Gaza border. He warned that this narrative is a pretext to revive strategic Israeli ambitions, such as the proposed creation of the so-called “Morage Corridor,” an Israeli-controlled buffer zone that would further encroach on Gaza’s already limited territory.
According to Rashwan, Netanyahu perceives Egypt not just as a geopolitical rival, but as a significant obstacle to Israel’s long-term objectives in the region. “He sees Egypt as part of the ‘seventh war,’ as a central actor in the resistance to forced displacement efforts targeting Palestinians,” Rashwan noted. “Cairo has made it unmistakably clear that the forced displacement of Palestinians across its border is a red line.”
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi reiterated this stance just three days after the outbreak of hostilities on October 7, stating unequivocally that Egypt would not allow any form of demographic engineering to take place at its expense. This firm rejection, Rashwan suggested, has been a major source of frustration for Netanyahu and the Israeli far right.
The veteran journalist also touched on what he described as Netanyahu’s ideological motivations, particularly the vision of a “Greater Israel” a long-held, ultra-nationalist aspiration among some segments of Israeli politics. Rashwan argued that in this context, Egypt is seen not only as a strategic obstacle but also as part of an imagined territorial expansion.
“The fantasy of a Greater Israel includes about 150,000 square kilometers of Egyptian land,” he revealed. “But let’s be realistic: Can 7.5 million Jews in Israel, along with another 6.5 million worldwide, truly control the vast territories of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, and Jordan? It’s a delusion.”
Rashwan’s statements reflect a growing impatience in Cairo with what it sees as Israel’s increasingly reckless rhetoric and actions, which threaten to destabilize long-standing regional agreements. The message from Egypt is clear: provocations will not be tolerated, and strategic partnerships cannot be weaponized for political brinkmanship.
