Egypt’s prophetic future

The world has witnessed the signing of various agreements between Israel and her enemies over the past 45 years:

 

• The Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt (September 1978 signed; March 1979 concluded)

 

• The Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO (September 13, 1993)

 

• The Wadi Araba Treaty between Israel and Jordan (October 26, 1994)

 

• The Abraham Accords between Israel and the United Arab Emirates/Bahrain/Sudan/Morocco (September 15, 2020)

 

None of these treaties has resulted in a ‘warm peace’ within the hearts of Islamic nations toward Israel. Jihadi terrorism continues to rear its ugly head, with regular attacks coming from PLO-affiliated groups in the West Bank, and from jihadi groups crossing into Israel from Egypt and Gaza. Opinion polls from Egypt, Gaza, the West Bank and Jordan show an increase of murderous hatred toward the Jewish people and the Jewish state. These realities may be unappetizing, but they reflect the facts on the ground.

 

• This newsletter focuses on present realities and the prophetic future of Egypt, the largest Arab country in the Middle East and a central player in this part of the world. What is happening in Egypt right now?

 

 

The deeply rooted nature of anti-Israel hatred in Egypt

 

Investigative journalist Ksenia Svetlova commented in October, 2021: “Anti-Israel sentiment remains a powerful force in Egypt, with many among its elites – writers, poets, journalists as well as civil society activists holding pro-Nasserite views and rejecting recognition of Israel and cooperation with it. This also hampers development of civilian ties with that state.”

 

Two political analysts note: With “the signing of a peace treaty [the Camp David Accords] on March 26, 1979, the hope, particularly in Israel, was that the agreement would lead to warm, neighborly relations between Egyptians and Israelis based on coexistence, an acceptance of the other, and mutual cooperative endeavors. In practice, however, the peace between Egypt and Israel has remained ‘cold,’ providing the two countries with more than the ‘negative peace’ of an armistice but less than a ‘positive peace,’ which in its broad sense includes reconciliation, mutual acceptance, and cooperative endeavors between the states and their peoples . . .  The term ‘cold peace’ still characterizes Israeli-Egyptian relations accurately in the current period” (‘Egypt and Israel: Forty Years in the Desert of Cold Peace’; Moomen Sallam and Dr Ofir Winter; October 2017).

 

Here are some examples of this virulent Egyptian hatred of the Jewish people and their state:

 

• The former President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser who led his armies against Israel in June 1967 was gripped by the latent anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism that was prevalent in the Arab world, expressing these perspectives openly and repeatedly.

 

• Pervasive anti-Israel and anti-Jewish teachings are part of normal curricula in Egyptian public schools.

 

• In the Jerusalem Post, August 5, 1977, p. 5: “Major-General George Keegan, former head of the U.S. Air Force Intelligence, has said that a ‘profound change in Arab strategy is now underway . . . It is not understood in the U.S. I have seen intelligence which very few Americans have access to, that persuades me that the first element of that strategy is that the feudal leadership in the Arab world strikingly remain committed, Messianically, to the extermination of Israel as a nation and as a people. What has changed about that Messianic determination . . . is the apparent Arab realization that after four futile wars, the direct [i.e., military] approach now appears to be one of such high risk that they are beginning to use the strategy of the indirect approach [that is, diplomatic duplicity]”

 

• A May, 2001 article describes Egyptian pop singer Shaaban Abdel Rehim’s hit song, ‘I Hate Israel.’ as a pretty accurate barometer of the public mood. “The song has swept the charts in recent months . . . Critics have decried the song as vulgar and divisive, but it has touched a deep, emotional chord . . .  Despite the official peace between the two nations, the Egyptian public has never warmed to Israel, and anti-Israel sentiments are a common staple of movies and populist newspapers. But the current situation has ‘never been worse,’ said Abdel Monem Said, director of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.”

 

• A Ynetnews article from January 11, 2006, appraises popular Egyptian sentiment about Israel: “It’s been 27 years since the Camp David accords were signed, but the vast majority of Egyptians still see Israel as an enemy state. A poll conducted by an Egyptian state institute determined that Israel and Denmark were not only the least popular foreign countries among the Egyptian public, but that they were also considered enemy nations. The poll, made public on Wednesday, showed that 92 percent of respondents see Israel as an enemy – despite the lasting peace agreement between the two countries. Only two percent believe that Israel is a friend to Egypt.”

 

• An Associated Press article from September 14, 2006, declares: “Egypt’s best-known democracy movement has switched causes and is now focused on demanding an end to the country’s peace treaty with Israel. ‘One of the costs of pressing for democracy in the Middle East is the fact that most democratically based Arab parties … will be hostile to Israel,’ said Edward S. Walker, a former U.S. ambassador to Egypt and Israel, now with the Middle East Institute, a Washington-based think tank. The ‘Kifaya’ movement has launched a campaign to collect 1 million signatures on a petition calling for the annulment of Egypt’s U.S.-sponsored 1979 peace treaty with Israel. The move is mainly symbolic, but it highlights the extent of resentment felt by Egyptians toward Israel – and by association, the United States, its main backer.”

 

• Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes notes: “The Egyptian government has permitted large quantities of weapons to be smuggled into Gaza to use against Israeli border towns. Yuval Steinitz, an Israeli legislator specializing in Egypt-Israel relations, estimates that fully 90% of PLO and Hamas explosives come from Egypt.”

 

• In 2011, Egyptian mobs attacked and broke into the Israeli Embassy in Cairo. They were prevented from murdering the Ambassador and his staff at the last moment, through Egyptian Special Forces intervention.

 

 

Former President Sadat’s perspectives on Israel

 

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, co-signer of the Camp David Accords with Israel, originally had a rather speckled history regarding his attitudes to the Jewish people and to their state. During WWII, Sadat openly expressed pro-Nazi sympathies and was jailed by the British for operating as a Nazi spy. In 1955, in a speech celebrating the birthday of Mohammed, Sadat declared, with reference to the Jews: “The most splendid thing the Prophet Mohammed did was to drive them out of the whole Arabian peninsula . . .  They are a nation of liars and traitors, contrivers of plots, a people born for the deeds of treachery . . . I promise you, we shall send them back to their former status, as the Koran said of them ‘condemned to humiliation and misery’” (edited by D.F. Green, ‘Arab Theologians on Jews and Israel’; Geneva: Academy of Islamic Research, 1976; pp. 90 -91).

 

In an interview with the Egyptian magazine ‘October’ on January 14, 1978 (quoted in Shmuel Katz, ‘The Hollow Peace,’ Jerusalem: Dvir, 1981, pp. 231-232) Sadat said: “Fear is the second layer of skin of every Israeli or Jew.”

 

In an interview with President Sadat in the Egyptian newspaper ‘al-Anwar’ on June 22, 1975 (cited in Steve Posner’s book ‘Inside Israel’) Sadat stated his perspectives on peace with Israel. He affirmed that his short-term goal was to get back the Sinai Peninsula for Egypt, as part of an effort to push Israel back to its pre-June 1967 borders. But he ominously added a longer-term perspective: that the Egyptian generation coming after his, would have the responsibility to reconquer the West Bank and East Jerusalem: “The Zionist conquest to which we are being subjected will not be terminated by the return of the occupied territories . . . The effort of our generation is to return to the 1967 borders. Afterward the next generation will carry the responsibility.”  For other helpful comments on this subject, see ‘Assessing the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, Thirty Years Later’ by Daniel Pipes, March 26, 2009.

 

 

YHVH’s coming judgments of Egypt because of the violence done by her to the sons of Judah

 

The Hebrew prophets speak specific words over Egypt, regarding the coming judgment of YHVH on that nation because of their heart attitude toward and treatment of Israel:

 

• “Egypt will become a wasteland, and Edom will become a desolate wilderness, because of the violence done to the sons of Judah, in whose land they have shed innocent blood” (Joel 3:19)

 

• “The land of Judah will become a cause of shame to Egypt. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in great fear because of the plan of YHVH of armies which He is making against them. On that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to YHVH of armies; one will be called ‘the City of Destruction’” (Isaiah 19:17-18)

 

• “Even Egypt, whose help is vain and empty. Therefore, I have called her ‘Rahab who has been exterminated’” (Isaiah 30:7)

 

• “Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, YHVH of armies, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, YHVH of armies, there will be no rain on them. And if the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which YHVH strikes the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths” (Zechariah 14:16-19)

 

 

The fragile imbalance in Egypt regarding another Muslim Brotherhood takeover

 

The country of Egypt has been a significant breeding ground – a hothouse – for the birth of modern jihadi terrorist movements.

 

• The Muslim Brotherhood, or ‘Society of Muslim Brothers’ (Jama’at al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin), was founded in Egypt by Hassan al-Banna, a school teacher. From his perspective, most Arab and Islamic states are evil and need to be overthrown. Only strict Islamist rule and the re-establishment of the Muslim Caliphate or ‘khilafah’ is ultimately acceptable. From that point on in modern Egyptian history, the rulers of Egypt have had to struggle with Muslim Brotherhood attempts to overthrow the regime, and with assassination attempts – some of which were successful.

 

• Sayyid Qutb was an Egyptian political theorist and revolutionary, and a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood. He is considered the ‘father of Salafi jihadism,’ the philosophy that underpins al-Qaeda and ISIS. Egyptian Prime Minister Mahmoud el-Nokrashy Pasha outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood in November 1948, and then was assassinated by a Brotherhood agent on December 28, 1948. Sayyid Qutb was hanged by Egyptian authorities in response.

 

• Muhammad Faraj was an Egyptian Islamist and jihadi theorist who led the Islamist group al-Jihad (also known as Tanzim al-Jihad). He was executed in 1982 for his role in coordinating the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat .

 

• Ayman al-Zawahiri was an Egyptian Islamist terrorist and surgeon who served as the second general leader (emir) of al-Qaeda from 2011 until 2022. He was one of the main orchestrators of the 9/11 attacks. He was imprisoned from 1981 to 1984 for his role in the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. He was wanted by the United States and the United Nations, respectively, for his role in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and in the 2002 Bali bombings. He merged the Egyptian Islamic Jihad with al-Qaeda in 2001, becoming bin Laden’s deputy in 2004. On July 31, 2022, al-Zawahiri was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan.

 

• Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, commonly known as ‘The Blind Sheikh,’  was a blind Egyptian Islamist convicted of seditious conspiracy in 1995 in connection with the original 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He was the leader of al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya (‘The Islamic Group’), a terrorist group responsible for the November 1997 Luxor Massacre in which 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians were killed.

 

• Mohamed Morsi was an Egyptian Islamist engineer and professor affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood organization, who became the fifth president of Egypt, from 2012 to 2013. Anti-Israel in approach, he was removed from office by General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in a coup d’état.

 

Barely twenty years ago, in January-February 2011 the Arab world’s largest country was suddenly transformed from being a pro-Western regional power, turning into a pro-jihadi Muslim Brotherhood stronghold. President Morsi’s Egypt was now identifying with the same group which had assassinated Egypt’s former President Sadat. Egypt had turned from being an opponent of Hamas to becoming its avid sponsor. But within two years, by July 2013, Egypt did an about-face, turning away from Muslim Brotherhood leadership and coming back to its previous pro-American orientation. Today Egypt is considered a strong bulwark against jihadi Islam. But behind the scenes, the truth is that Egypt is tottering on the brink of being once again swallowed up by jihadi forces. Were this to occur, it would be a catastrophic situation for Western geopolitics, as well as a potential disaster for Israel. Prayer here is very much needed.

 

 

The significance of  the 100+ Hamas smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt

 

The IDF has uncovered thousands of Hamas terror tunnels throughout Gaza, from which jihadi attacks have been launched and rockets have been fired against Israeli civilians. Israel’s recent conquest of the Rafah sector (bordering Egypt) has also uncovered over one hundred tunnels used for smuggling weapons into Gaza from Egypt. These could also be used for smuggling Israeli hostages out from Hamas captivity and into Egypt, where they could then be transferred to Iran.

 

• Such tunnels could not be operated without Egypt’s awareness. Hamas pays the el-Sisi family hefty kickbacks for Egypt to turn a blind eye here. Hamas’ oxygen life-line flows through these tunnels – weapons, foreign currency, food, etc. – and Egyptian fingerprints are all over them. Egypt is enabling and empowering Hamas in its war against Israel, while pretending to honor its ‘peace treaty’ with Israel.

 

In the Sinai peninsula, both Hamas and ISIS have terror armies and weaponry waiting to be smuggled back into Gaza – as soon as the IDF can be forced to retreat from the Philadelphia Corridor (which would then open the gates for a joint Hamas-ISIS operation). US and European pressure to catalyze such an Israeli retreat flies in the face of Western protestations of peace and friendship with the Jewish state.  Israel’s arm is being twisted on this matter. Egypt insists that Israel must retreat from the Philadelphia Corridor and must return it to Hamas; this is not how allies treat each other. The Camp David Accords have turned out not only to be toothless as far as Israel’s defense is concerned; these treaties have legally established a belt of enmity on Israel’s southern border.

 

• Hamas has been firing rockets into Israel for years, and on October 7, 2023 it sent up to 7,000 terrorists to rape, murder, torture and kidnap Israeli families, youths and pensioners. These activities have been enabled by Egypt which turns a blind eye to Hamas’ jihadi activities, and winks broadly as cash changes hands. Egypt thus carries a huge responsibility for the pogroms of October 7. And Egypt’s destructive rôle vis-à-vis Israel continues to this very day.

 

 

Turkey, Egypt and Hamas – birds of a feather

 

Egypt and Turkey have just kick-started political and economic connections after a twelve-year hiatus. The huge irony in this ‘quasi-reconciliation’ is that Turkey is actually one of the main supporters of Hamas (along with Qatar). At the same time, the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Hamas is still Egypt’s arch-enemy, and was involved in the overthrow of former President Hosni Mubaraq and the crowning of President Morsi in 2011. Yet, in the roomful of mirrors which is the Middle East, backstabbers can turn into temporary allies (‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’). Egypt and pro-Hamas Turkey are willing to stand together against Israel in the Jewish state’s attempts to weaken and crush Hamas’ jihadi dictatorship and savage rule in Gaza. These ‘contradictions in terms’ are part of standard Middle East realpolitik.  The meeting of these two Middle Eastern powers Egypt and Turkey points to dark forces at work, and it is a worthy focus for intercession.

 

 

Ultimate Abrahamic blessing to Egypt through Israel

 

Isaiah 19:16-24 describes great blessing coming to Egypt after a very rocky immediate future. Severe military defeat for Egypt at the hands of Israel will be followed by a total heart-change for the people of the Nile – both toward YHVH the God of Jacob, and toward the Jewish people as well.  At last there will be a warm peace and a full embracing of Israel, of her destiny and calling, and of her God. The ancient enmity between the Land of Ham (see Psalm 105:23-28) and the Land of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will melt away, never to return. From Cairo in Egypt to Irbid in northern Iraq, Israel will be honored and recognized as YHVH’s chosen people. The blessings of Genesis 12:1-3 will freely flow across the entire Middle East.

 

 

How to pray for Egypt in light of reality?

 

Today Egypt is no friend of the Jewish state. The Bible speaks of Last Days dangers yet to arise from that country against Israel. The military context of a future clash between Egypt and Israel (see Isaiah 19:16-18) should cause our radar to kick in: we need to be on guard regarding fast-developing Egyptian threats – in practical ways as well as in intercession.

 

 

How should we then pray?

 

• Pray for YHVH’s visitation to come to Egypt’s leaders and populace – to clearly receive revelation of YHVH’s heart for Israel and His strategies regarding the nation of Egypt

 

• Pray for believers worldwide to clearly receive revelation of YHVH’s heart for Israel and specific intercessory strategies regarding the nations of Egypt and Israel

 

• Pray for the physical rescue of the approximately 44 to 50 living Israeli hostages (including babies) kidnapped by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and PFLP/PLO.  At this moment some of these hostages are being tortured, raped and starved (this based on testimonies of recently released hostages). Sadly, over 100 of all Israeli hostages are dead; Hamas is holding on to their corpses as cold storage bargaining chips

 

• Pray for the raising up of Ezekiel’s prophetic Jewish army throughout the earth

 

Your prayers and support hold up our arms and are the very practical enablement of God to us in the work He has called us to do.

 

In Messiah Yeshua,

 

Avner Boskey

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