Egypt, the informal leader of the Arab world, is again championing the inter-Arab policy decision-making process. An Israeli official from the Foreign Ministry’s political research center told Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity that Cairo has been holding intense deliberations with the Arab League, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority in view of the upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The official noted that the deliberations focus on the strategic approach to be presented at that meeting.

From the Egyptian side, the agenda for the meeting should include the rise of Shiite power in the region as a result of increased influence by Iran and its surrogates, the Iran deal, the fight against the Islamic State (also in the Sinai Peninsula), the Palestinian-Israeli two-state solution and last, but probably most important, the level of American aid to Egypt on the backdrop of hints by Trump about cutting assistance to Middle Eastern countries.

The Israeli official emphasized that in these strategic deliberations, Sisi is considered to be a key figure for future Arab relations with the Trump administration. Sisi himself accords great importance to the coordination with Trump, with whom he believes to have a good rapport.

In Cairo’s view, the two men who best understand the Arab world in the US administration are Secretary of Defense James Mattis and new national security adviser Lt. Gen. Herbert Raymond McMaster. Both men gained this understanding of the Arab world during the war in Iraq.