The myth of Sisi’s Sinai proposal

A few days ago, a claim surfaced that Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi offered to give part of the Sinai Peninsula to the Palestinians to expand the Gaza Strip and create a state. It was also claimed that the Palestinian president had rejected the Egyptian offer.

In fact, the claim is a farce — it never existed. Anyone with a basic understanding of the Egyptian psyche and current dynamics will reach this same conclusion. The proposal, however, reflects the new reality that has emerged after Israel’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza that ended with an open-ended cease-fire deal. This inconclusive end of the war highlights a new reality in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is characterized by no peace, no victory and no guarantees for any long-term period of calm. Within this atmosphere of uncertainty, everyone is bound to feel stuck, and rumors can be considered legible.

Reports first surfaced on Sept. 3, in a piece by Elhanan Miller, and then on Sept. 8, on Israeli Army Radio. The news unsurprisingly caused a stir and was strongly denied by both Egypt and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Despite the absurdity of the claim, some (mostly pro-Israel) believed it or at least saw it as a creative, out-of-the-box proposition. Commentary Magazine’s Jonathan Tobin described it as a “healthy sign.” Other Israel supporters on social media criticized Egypt for denying the report. Moreover, a few days later, Israel Harel wrote a piece in Haaretz discussing the topic as if the offer were indeed a fact, ignoring the formal Egyptian denial. The enthusiastic response by some of Israel’s supporters indicates a worrying dystopian thinking that still considers Sinai a “disputed land.”

In contrast, Egyptians laughed at any idea of such a proposal. Not because they can read the mind of their president, but because they fully understand how there are things that even their strong leader, Sisi, cannot fiddle around with or change.