The Egyptian Response to the Palestinian Issue in the Discourses of the President of the Republic “An Analytical Study for the Period 2014-2023”

Based on the fact that the President of the Republic, the head of the political system, is considered an independent and influential factor in all aspects of the country’s political and economic life, especially with regard to Egyptian foreign policy towards regional and international issues, regardless of the importance of the state’s foreign policy agenda, which may shape a large part of the president’s orientations. The current study seeks to reveal the Egyptian response to the Palestinian issue and the solutions proposed to solve it through the speeches of the President of the Republic in the period from 2014 to 2023, by resolving the clash of national interests and commitments with international and regional contexts.
Accordingly, the study relies on analyzing these discourses in order to explain the paths of the Egyptian response to the Palestinian issue and the settlement efforts it presents. That is, the overall actions and reactions towards this issue, taking into account the internal and external variables and the Egyptian national interest. Hence, the study was based on a methodological approach that relied mainly on Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis, in which all presidential speeches that spoke about the Palestinian issue were collected from the start of each of the two Israeli wars on Gaza (2014 and 2023). Until the end of the year in which each war occurred (until November 1, 2023). This is based on the assumption that this war will force Egyptian foreign policy to bring the Palestinian issue back to the forefront of the scene, even if it is not, and therefore we expect that there will be rhetorical richness in these times, and hence the number of speeches was limited to 6 in 2014, and 3 speeches In 2023.
The study concluded that the most important aspects of the Egyptian response to the Palestinian issue, as reflected in the texts of the President of the Republic’s speeches, were: promoting the Palestinian cause and right in various international forums, the permanent and continuous emphasis on the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the categorical rejection of liquidating the Palestinian issue at the expense of the Egyptian state or At the expense of any other country. The economic and political contexts - internal and external - were effective drivers of the Egyptian response to the Palestinian issue, as the economic and political contexts were always present in the speeches of the President of the Republic, and shaped Egyptian action and reactions regarding the Palestinian issue. In addition to the national economic and political determinants, and the international balance of power, the Egyptian national interest, as well as the interest of the regime, were the most important determinants of the president’s rhetorical behavior. However, this behavior did not ignore the interest of the Palestinian cause during the wars that the occupying Israeli entity waged against it, and thus it was this interest is another determinant of the president's rhetorical behavior.