A leaked document written by Gila Gamaliel, the Israeli intelligence minister, came to light in late October amid the devastating war in Gaza.
It set out a proposal to relocate the residents of Gaza to Sinai (Egypt) as a solution “which will produce positive long-term strategic results”. But how could Egypt accept such a solution when most of its population appears to be pro-Palestinian?
The answer can be found in the world of macroeconomics: debt.
After being revealed by the Israeli newspaper Calcalist and WikiLeaks, the proposal is getting attention in the Israeli and Egyptian critical press. Tel Aviv appears to be in talks with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi about Egypt taking in Gazans and settling them in Sinai, in exchange for the cancellation of all its debts to the World Bank.
This could mean the Israeli government would take on the debts Egypt owes to multilateral creditors (such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund etc.) or that (with the support of the United States) it would convince allied Western countries to write off Egyptian debts to national institutions
Hope Egypt doesnt fall for this
Presumably because Egypt would still get the labor power of the refugees and not have to cede economic assets to its debtors.
There would have to be an investment period on any ROI
Egypt’s economy is already in the gutter and I’m not sure if forgiving debt would fix it especially under Sisi
Egypt’s problems don’t lie with the population size or lack of physical labor