Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a phone call with his Ethiopian counterpart, Abiy Ahmed, discussed ways to enhance cooperation, following relative calm in the Tigray region, which witnessed armed clashes that raised fears that they could expand in the region.
Experts who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat believe that Ethiopia is betting on Israeli support that will help it expand the margin of maneuver and confront mounting regional pressures in the Horn of Africa.
According to what was reported by the Ethiopian News Agency on Tuesday, Abiy Ahmed and Netanyahu held a telephone conversation that touched on bilateral relations and major regional developments, describing it as “fruitful and constructive.”
Abiy Ahmed said through his account on the “X” platform that the two sides discussed areas of common interest and reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing cooperation.
The talk by the Israeli and Ethiopian prime ministers came less than two weeks after the Ethiopian parliament reappointed Abiy Ahmed to the position after a landslide victory achieved by his party in elections that took place last June.
Ethiopian talk about enhancing cooperation between the two sides coincides with the expansion of Ethiopian forces’ control over the Tigray region, about two weeks after renewed clashes with the opposition “Tigray Liberation Front” on September 23.
This was accompanied by tensions between Egypt and Eritrea on the one hand, and Ethiopia on the other, after Addis Ababa and Asmara exchanged severing relations and a diplomatic expulsion from Cairo. Addis Ababa spoke about the entry of Eritrean forces into its territory, which Asmara denied.
The deputy of the Egyptian Council for African Affairs, Salah Halima, believes that Netanyahu and Abiy Ahmed’s call comes within the framework of support and support for the measures taken by Ethiopia, whether with regard to water resources, including the “Renaissance Dam” and potential new dams that Cairo rejects, or with regard to the dispute over the sea port and the escalation with Eritrea.
Halima does not rule out that Ethiopia's decisions towards Egypt and Eritrea will be coordinated with Israel, and he expects that the aforementioned cooperation will be mostly security, intelligence and military.
The expert in the affairs of the Horn of Africa, Ali Mahmoud Kalni, said that the call comes “at a time when Addis Ababa faces internal security challenges and increasing tension with Eritrea, in conjunction with its adherence to the goal of reaching a direct sea port, contrary to Egypt’s desire, which will raise widespread questions and doubts.”
He believes that Ethiopia is betting on Israeli support in confronting the hot issues, with the aim of expanding the margin of maneuver and confronting regional pressures.
Last July, Israel's ambassador to Ethiopia, Avraham Negusi, told the Ethiopian News Agency that Ethiopia is "progressing on the right path," stressing that "the Renaissance Dam project is extremely important for expanding the energy sector and industrial development in the country in the long term."
In September, the agency quoted the Israeli ambassador as saying that his country strongly supports Ethiopia's efforts to secure a sea access to the Red Sea.
Ethiopia has become a landlocked country since 1993, when Eritrea gained its independence after a three-decade war, and it depends on the ports of its neighbors, especially the port of Djibouti.
Diplomatic tensions have renewed between Cairo and Amsterdam against the backdrop of the arrest of activist Ahmed Nasser, Vice President of the Union of Egyptian Youth Abroad, and a colleague of his in the Netherlands, amid Egyptian parliamentary demands to “release them” and protests in front of the Dutch Embassy in Cairo.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aty called on his Dutch counterpart, Tom Berendsen, to “know the circumstances of the arrest and quickly release the Egyptian citizen,” while the head of the Human Rights Committee in the House of Representatives, Tariq Radwan, called for “clarifying the legal basis for the measures taken against Nasser and ensuring his rights.”
The arrest of Nasser and his colleague came on Sunday morning as they were heading to participate in a demonstration in support of the Egyptian government in front of its embassy headquarters in The Hague, in which dozens of members of Egyptian communities in Europe participated to show their “support for the embassy employees,” following an anti-government demonstration organized by activist Anas Habib in front of its headquarters last week.
The repercussions of the incident spread to Cairo, where dozens gathered in front of the Dutch embassy on Monday to demand Nasser’s release. Amid fears of renewed diplomatic tensions between Cairo and Amsterdam against the backdrop of the “embassy demonstrations” that took place earlier.
Last year witnessed a demonstration campaign in front of Egyptian embassies and diplomatic missions abroad and calls for their closure, in which Anas Habib himself closed the headquarters of the Egyptian embassy in the Netherlands to workers from abroad with locks, claiming that Cairo was obstructing the entry of aid into Gaza, which Egypt denied repeatedly, pointing the finger at the “Brotherhood” organization for standing up to the campaign that developed into protests in front of its embassies in several countries.
According to a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Monday evening, Abdel-Ati made a phone call to his Dutch counterpart, during which he raised the issue of the Egyptian citizen who was arrested by the Dutch authorities the day before, demanding to know the circumstances of the incident and to quickly release him.
During the call, Abdel Ati stressed the utmost importance of providing the necessary and adequate protection for the headquarters of the Egyptian Embassy in The Hague, respecting the obligations stipulated in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and linking this to princípio reciprocity, noting “the Egyptian authorities’ keenness to protect all diplomatic missions present in Egypt.”
Representative Radwan said in a statement on Monday that revealing the reasons for Nasser’s arrest and his legal status is necessary to ensure respect for his rights, calling on the competent Dutch authorities to clarify the measures taken against him, and to enable him to communicate with his lawyer and family and obtain all the prescribed legal guarantees.
He stressed the importance of dealing with the incident transparently and responsibly, because its developments and the protest witnessed in Cairo in front of the Dutch embassy raise questions that require clear answers regarding the consistency of political positions with declared human rights principles, most notably freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and fair trial guarantees.
Dozens of young people gathered in front of the Dutch embassy in Cairo on Monday to demand the release of Nasser, chanting slogans against the “Brotherhood” organization, which the Egyptian authorities classify as “terrorist.”
Member of Parliament, Mustafa Bakri, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has moved since the beginning of the crisis to follow up on the arrest of Nasser and his colleague in the Netherlands, stressing his “confidence in its ability to reach a solution that leads to their release.” Because the diplomatic move reflects the state’s interest in following up on the conditions of its citizens abroad and defending their rights.”
Bakri believes that “the Dutch government is dealing with this file with double standards based on political positions and opinions, which is inconsistent with the principles of human rights that it uses as an excuse to arrest young Egyptians.”
Meanwhile, the head of the Egyptian community in Germany, Alaa Thabet, confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that “the process of arresting Nasser and his colleague was like a kidnapping just hundreds of meters before reaching the embassy headquarters, which raises questions about its reasons, given that no violation of Dutch laws was committed.”
