Egypt ignores comments on Israeli reports about the detention of three Israelis and continues to address the teacher crisis in Kuwait and enhance transportation cooperation with Saudi Arabia

Egypt ignored commenting on what was circulated in Hebrew reports a few days ago about the arrest of 3 Israelis, claiming that this was due to “reasons related to Egyptian national security.”

Asharq Al-Awsat contacted relevant authorities in Egypt, including the Presidency, the Council of Ministers, the Foreign Ministry, the State Information Service, and the Ministry of Information, to obtain a comment on the issue, but this was not possible, and no Egyptian statement has been issued in this regard yet.

Hebrew reports from the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation “Kan 11”, the newspaper “Maariv” and “Israeli Channel 10” claimed that “the three Israelis are Negev Bedouins, and were detained by the security authorities in Egypt for about six months under mysterious circumstances,” noting that “the families of the detainees received assurances that the arrest was carried out for reasons related to Egypt’s national security and not for violations or ordinary criminal crimes.”

According to circulating news, “those arrested were three young men who had been on vacation in South Sinai since last March, and during their return they were arrested at the Taba crossing. Since then, contact between them and their families has been cut off, who did not know about their arrest until after extensive research by their Israeli lawyer, who obtained confirmation from the Israeli Foreign Ministry of the presence of the three young men in Egyptian prisons without additional details.”

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority “Kan” reported on Tuesday evening that the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs “did not receive an adequate official response from Egypt regarding 3 Israelis detained by it.”

The former Director of Morale Affairs in the Egyptian Army, Major General Samir Farag, said that the news circulating about the arrest of three Israelis, if proven true, confirms that “Egypt maintains a certain ceiling in its relations with Israel, especially with regard to national security.”

He explained in a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat that “relations between Egypt and Israel are already witnessing tension, but will not reach the point of severing them. During this period, Israel is experiencing elections, and then it works to raise such issues and confirm that they are threatened.”

The latest Hebrew reports come at a time when relations between Egypt and Israel are witnessing unprecedented tension since the start of the recent war on the Gaza Strip, and Cairo’s refusal to accept a new ambassador to Israel, and it also summoned the Egyptian ambassador from Tel Aviv about 3 years ago and he has not returned since then.

The former Egyptian intelligence agent, Major General Mohamed Rashad, said, “From what was mentioned in the Israeli statements, the situation is ambiguous with regard to the people who are said to have been arrested in Egypt,” noting in a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat that “the ambiguous situation, if it were true, has in its background tense relations between Egypt and Israel as a result of the events in Gaza and Israel’s occupation of the Philadelphia Corridor (Salah al-Din Axis) and its insistence on not withdrawing from it, and carrying out some engineering preparations in its area in violation of the agreement.” (Camp David).”

The expert specializing in Arab and Israeli affairs, Ashraf Al-Ashry, said that “according to circulating information, the detainees are Arabs from the occupied Palestinian territory, that is, from the Green Line, and there are doubts about their visit and mission in Egypt, and it seems that they are involved in work related to Egyptian national security.”

He explained to Asharq Al-Awsat that “such news does not affect relations between the two countries; Because the talk here is that the detainees are Israeli Arabs and not Jews, and therefore this matter, if true, will end within the framework of a specific agreement and commitments between the two countries.”

At a time when the Egyptian government is making efforts to resolve the “crisis of teachers” who have been laid off in the State of Kuwait, as part of a decision to terminate the contracts of more than 7,000 expatriate teachers, including Egyptians, the two countries stressed “the depth of their relations, and the keenness to translate privacy in cooperation into greater rapprochement in all sectors.”

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly discussed with Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, on the sidelines of their participation in the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York, “the conditions of the Egyptian community in Kuwait,” and Madbouly praised “the support enjoyed by Egyptian expatriates, and the Kuwaiti government’s keenness to provide them with various aspects of care,” according to a statement to the Egyptian Council of Ministers.

The meeting touched on the “teacher crisis,” approximately two weeks after the foreign ministers of the two countries affirmed “the positive role of the Egyptian community in various sectors in the State of Kuwait.”

The Egyptian Educational Professions Syndicate spoke about actions taken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the conditions of Egyptian teachers who were laid off in Kuwait, and stressed in its testimony on Tuesday, “the importance of rapid action to protect the interests of teachers and provide practical solutions that ensure their continuation of work.”

Recently, about 7,000 male and female teachers of different nationalities in Kuwait received notices of termination of their contracts, through the “Sahl” application designated for government transactions. According to Kuwaiti newspapers, “this measure comes within a government plan to address the surplus of male and female teachers in the educational sector in the country.”

There is no limit to the number of Egyptian teachers who have been laid off so far from the “Kuwaiti Ministry of Education,” according to the media official at the Egyptian “Syndicate of Educational Professions,” Alaa Hijab, who said that “the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is taking measures to count the numbers of those who have been laid off,” in addition to that it is “contacting with the Kuwaiti authorities to provide them with alternative job opportunities.”

In parallel with government communications, Hijab indicated, in statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, that “the Egyptian Educational Professions Syndicate is in contact with the Association of Kuwaiti Teachers to discuss the possibility of providing jobs for Egyptian teachers who were laid off in Kuwaiti private schools,” and said that “these efforts have not yielded results so far.”

The Egyptian Teachers Syndicate said, in a statement on Tuesday, that it “hopes that the current movements will result in urgent and tangible solutions that guarantee the preservation of the work of Egyptian teachers, and open new paths for them to continue performing their educational mission,” and pointed to the possibility of “providing job opportunities for teachers within private schools in Kuwait, in a way that contributes to benefiting from their experience and competencies, and maintains their professional and social stability.”

The representative of the Egyptian community in Kuwait, Mahmoud Abdel Aziz Ashish, views the talks of the Crown Prince of Kuwait with the Egyptian Prime Minister as “providing a message of reassurance and appreciation to the Egyptian community in Kuwait,” and also “reflecting the depth of relations between the two countries.” He pointed out that “there is a keenness on both sides to address the crisis of Egyptian teachers, taking into account the policies of the State of Kuwait in regulating its labor market.”

The Egyptian Prime Minister stressed “the depth of Egyptian-Kuwaiti relations,” and stressed during his meeting with the Kuwaiti Crown Prince “his country’s keenness to translate the specificity of those relations into greater rapprochement and cooperation in all sectors,” and pointed to “his country’s interest in enhancing joint investment and trade exchange between the two countries.”

Madbouly stressed that “the security of Kuwait and the Arab Gulf states is an integral part of Egyptian national security,” and pointed to his country’s “categorical rejection and condemnation of any attacks targeting Kuwait and the Arab Gulf,” according to a statement by the Egyptian Cabinet.

For his part, the Crown Prince of Kuwait expressed his country’s appreciation for the “historic and fraternal relations” between the two countries, and stressed “the continuation of effective communication between the two sides during the coming period, and the strengthening of joint coordination,” according to a statement by the Egyptian Council of Ministers.

Ashish pointed out, in statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, that “the Egyptian community has been an integral part of the process of development and renaissance in Kuwait for decades, and has made clear contributions to education, health, engineering, judiciary, and trade,” pointing out that “there are partnerships in various internal sectors in the State of Kuwait,” and this usually “reflects the good climate in which Egyptians residing in Kuwait work.”

Official data from the Kuwaiti Ministry of Manpower showed that the number of Egyptians working in Kuwait reached 667,000 male and female workers, ranking second in the number of expatriates after India.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt confirmed the development of maritime transport routes and the strengthening of joint cooperation in various fields of transport, amid international navigation disturbances and their negative effects on international supply chains.

The Saudi Minister of Transport and Logistics, Saleh Al-Jasser, discussed with his Egyptian counterpart, Kamel Al-Wazir, ways to enhance joint cooperation between the two countries in the fields of transport, logistics and maritime connectivity, during their participation in the “Eno Trans” exhibition and conference, currently being held in the German capital, Berlin, and continuing until Thursday, according to a statement issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Transport, on Wednesday.

The two sides discussed “the importance of joint work to enhance integration between Egypt and Saudi Arabia in the field of international corridors, in addition to the importance of enhancing connectivity between Saudi and Egyptian ports, in a way that supports the movement of trade between the two countries, and from there to the Arab Gulf countries.”

The two sides stressed “the importance of the South Arab Trade Corridor, which connects Europe and the Arab Gulf countries via Egypt, by exploiting the Egyptian-Italian (RoRo) line between the ports of Damietta and Trieste, and the integrated international logistical corridors up to the port of Safaga, and from there to the port of Neom (formerly Duba) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, through the fleets of national Egyptian companies, and then to the rest of the Gulf countries,” according to the Egyptian statement.

The Saudi Minister of Transport stressed “the depth of Egyptian-Saudi relations, and the importance of promoting and consolidating joint cooperation in various fields of transport, especially in light of the great development witnessed by the transport and infrastructure sector in Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

About a week ago, Cairo and Riyadh stressed the importance of ensuring freedom of navigation in the Straits of Hormuz, Bab al-Mandab, and the Red Sea, during the visit of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Crown Prince, to Cairo, and his meeting with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, according to a statement issued by the “Egyptian Presidency” at the time.

A few days earlier, at the BRICS summit in India, Sisi called for maintaining freedom of navigation in international lanes, in light of current developments, especially with the passage of a large volume of international trade traffic through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.

The Saudi and Egyptian Ministers of Transport stressed that “the next stage requires continuing to build on the cooperation achieved between the two countries, opening broader horizons for partnership in the economic, investment and trade fields, and maximizing the benefit of the capabilities and components available on both sides.”

They also stressed “the importance of increasing the volume of cooperation and joint projects, in a way that enhances the mutual interests of the two peoples, and the importance of the role played by the Egyptian-Saudi Supreme Coordination Council, as an institutional framework for coordinating efforts and pushing bilateral cooperation to levels that meet the aspirations of the two countries.”

During the last meeting, Egyptian Minister of Transport Kamel Al-Wazir confirmed that his ministry “has planned to establish 8 integrated logistical corridors to link industrial, agricultural and mining production areas to seaports, or to link seaports on the Red Sea to seaports on the Mediterranean.”