Episode 42: Why is Egypt so scared to open its border with Gaza? with Mariam Wahba

Events move fast in the Middle East. This episode was recorded before the Israeli strike in Qatar. We believed this episode was an important one because the world should be paying more attention to the deteriorating situation in Egypt.

The attack on Hamas leaders in Doha did indeed grab the headlines. It's a dramatic development Haviv addressed in a Free Press livestream and that we plan to address in an episode already under development.

But the original point behind this episode stands. Everyone is talking about Gaza, Qatar, Israel, Iran. Meanwhile, Egypt, the most populous Arab state, the launching pad for most of the radical Islamist ideologies that have upended the Middle East in recent decades, has been teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and social implosion. Emirati bailouts, growing international concern and Egyptian officials suddenly talking openly about war with Israel are all signals of this fragility.

To make sense of this vital but under-discussed powder-keg - and to find out why Egypt continues to refuse to let Gazan civilians escape the war by waiting it out in safety in Sinai - we turned to Mariam Wahba, an Egypt expert (and Egyptian Coptic Christian herself) at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington.

This episode is sponsored by Jason and Lauriel Klinghoffer who have dedicated it to the memory of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, two Israeli embassy staffers who were murdered in Washington, DC on May 21st, 2025. They were fatally shot outside the Capitol Jewish Museum by an anti-Israel terrorist after attending an event for young diplomats.

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Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.