What is Behind the Attacks of Saudi Academics, Close to bin Salman, Against the Egyptian Army?

Cairo and Riyadh’s relations over the years are witnessing today one of their worst moments ever.

The Egyptian–Saudi political dispute was strong evidence of this deterioration. A campaign was launched by a group of Saudi academics headed by Turki al-Hamad and Khaled al-Dakhil, who are close to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, against the head of the regime, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and the Egyptian army’s control of the economy.

The attacks came after a clash between Sisi’s media arms, accusing each other of being collaborators and subservient to what they called the “Saudi agenda,” as happened between media figures Mohamed el-Baz and Amr Adeeb.

Saudi Arabia has been one of the most prominent supporters of the military coup in Egypt since July 3, 2013, financially and politically, and it has always been seen as the protector of Egypt’s regime.

Today, after nearly 10 years, the building of relations has cracked due to the severe economic crisis that Egypt is going through, with the collapse of the pound exchange rate against the dollar, the high rate of inflation, dependence on International Monetary Fund loans, and the opening of the door to privatization for foreign investments.

Bin Salman did not give Sisi what he asked for this time in terms of aid, while Saudi officials confirmed that the era of unconditional support had ended, which sparked a war in the press and social media regarding what each party wanted from the other and what were the reasons that led the relationship to reach this situation.

 

Military Mantle

On January 26, 2023, the Saudi academic Turki al-Hamad, who is close to the Crown Prince, posted many tweets criticizing the situation in Egypt and monitoring the causes of the political and economic decline.

Al-Hamad posted 9 tweets, starting with a question about “what is going on in Egypt,” then he stopped at the idea of the current reality and the country’s entry into a phase of severe decay.

The Saudi academic attributed the main reason for the deterioration of Cairo’s situation to the army’s escalating dominance over the state, especially the economy.

He stated that nothing passes in the Egyptian state without passing by the army; everything is under its supervision.

Al-Hamad stepped up his offensive language when he spoke about the aging Egyptian bureaucracy that is resistant to change and stands as a stumbling block in the face of any successful economic investment, whether internal or external.

This was not al-Hamad’s first attack on the Egyptian authorities. On June 12, 2022, he also spoke after the Egyptian writer Imad Eddin Adeeb published an article in which he asked, “who compensates the painful bill for the Russian–Ukrainian war.”

Adeeb said: “The future of Egyptian–Gulf relations may be one of the victims of the Russian–Ukrainian war bill.”

At the time, the Saudi academic got angry and published an offensive tweet in which he said: “This writer was supposed to ask: Why can his country [Egypt] not be able to solve its chronic crises on its own instead of becoming dependent on this and that?”

He added: “It is a fact that insults Egypt when it makes it look for a Gulf, Iranian or Turkish sponsor, instead of being the sponsor, as it was in the past, as it lacks nothing of what Turkiye, Iran, and the Gulf have.”

The Saudi politician Khaled al-Dakhil, who is also close to the royal palace, has also expressed anger.

The latter published a scathing tweet on his account, saying: “What is happening to Egypt in recent years is because it has not left the mantle of the military since 1952.”

This situation prompted the Egyptian opposition journalist, Abdel Nasser Salama, to comment by saying: “The shocking official position of both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait regarding foreign aid, and the tweets of Turki al-Hamad and Khaled al-Dakhil, is it an awakening of conscience in favor of the people after a series of mistakes, or temporary differences that will disappear with the disappearance of the reason, or external dictates, as usual?”

 

Absence and Questions

In light of the recent events, many suggested that there would be more serious disagreements.

On January 18, 2023, the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and Bahrain met at the summit in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, under the auspices of Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed, and it was noticeable that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were absent from the summit.

Questions were raised about the reasons for the absence of the Saudi crown prince in particular, with reference to the existence of sharp differences with Sisi.

At that time, Saudi journalist Turki al-Shalhoub confirmed that bin Salman’s relations with bin Zayed and Sisi were deteriorating due to the Emirati president’s desire to raise oil production and their disagreement in Yemen. As for the president of the Egyptian regime, the relationship is deteriorating because of the islands of Tiran and Sanafir, which he is delaying handing over to Riyadh, he said.

Alhurra website stated on January 19, 2023, as part of its analysis of the reasons for bin Salman’s absence from the UAE summit, that “there is a clear divergence in the economic visions between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, especially with regard to the issue of aid to Egypt.”

It stressed that “the economy was the main concern of the meeting, especially in light of the financial crisis in Egypt, and that the absence of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait from the meeting represents a message that they will not contribute to aid to Cairo, especially after the statements of Saudi Finance Minister, Mohammed al-Jadaan.”

Al-Jadaan’s statements in Bloomberg came as proof of these tensions, as he said in the Davos Economic Forum in Switzerland on January 18, 2023, that Saudis are used to providing grants and direct aid without conditions, but they are now changing this.

He said that Saudi Arabia, “the Gulf pioneer,” has always provided financial support to the troubled economies in the region through grants and deposits worth billions of dollars, and for years the kingdom was the single largest supporter of Egypt.

 

Rivals Division

On November 8, 2022, The Economist raised questions about the deposits that Egypt obtained from the Gulf countries and how they will be dealt with if the country reaches bankruptcy. The magazine pointed out that this situation may cause a confrontation between lenders.

Saudi Arabia and the International Monetary Fund do not want, at the present time, to provide more loans to Egypt, but at the same time, they want to save their money and save Cairo because of its geographical and strategic importance, according to the magazine.

This was confirmed by the Egyptian researcher and academic Ahmed Ragheb, by saying: “The Egyptian–Saudi relations were not good all the time, and the current dispute is not the first.”

He continued in an interview with Al-Estiklal: “We recall the severe disagreement that occurred between the two administrations following the death of the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and how Egypt and the UAE worked to help Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah hold power.”

He added: “That process was led by the advisor at the royal court, Khalid al-Tuwaijri, who had strong relations with bin Zayed and Sisi, before he and Mutaib were overthrown during the rise of bin Salman.

“Then relations became strained again in 2016 when Cairo refused to engage in Operation Decisive Storm in Yemen and failed the request of its Gulf allies and financiers, led by Saudi Arabia, which came to the point of cutting off oil supplies to Cairo through the Aramco company.”

He explained: “Now the dispute is escalating again due to the economic crisis; Egypt, with its current policy, wants huge amounts of Saudi money, but bin Salman and the Gulf people, in general, will not pay unconditionally and without achieving the largest possible gains.”

He concluded by saying: “These gains will be in the form of privatization and the acquisition of strategic sectors, lands, and major companies, through the sovereign funds of both countries, whether the Egyptian or the Saudi Investment Fund.

“The new Saudi method of support and seeking to take over has put Sisi between two fires, the fire of the kingdom and the fire of the army that dominates everything in Egypt.

“Perhaps Sisi used this pretext, which angered the financiers, and which explains the Saudi academics’ attack on the army in this way.”

The Egyptian researcher concluded his speech: “Egypt is now in its weakest state, and there are those who think that the support of the Gulf and Saudi Arabia stems from a sense of responsibility towards Egypt, but it stems from a strategy that was intended since 2011, to weaken the country and make it under the domination of regional powers, whether Riyadh or Abu Dhabi.”

Therefore, the current clash comes for more hegemony and exploitation of opportunities, and Egypt will remain the great spoil for the donors, according to his estimation.