In this exclusive interview croisée on Asharq News with Bloomberg, Maher Nicolas Firzli discusses the impact of the Israel–Gaza War on the world economy with Dr. M. Nidal al-Shaar, Dr. Samir Ghattas and programme host Sahar Mizari
If we are to consider the Egyptian pound/US dollar exchange rate as a reflection of the pressures faced by the Egyptian economy since the start of the war, after a steep, continuous fall (October–December 2023) which made many investors nervous, the situation has improved dramatically since the start of the year, as Arabian Gulf asset owners and supranational lenders signaled their support for Cairo … Egypt’s resilience is truly remarkable
For the first time since the tragic events of October 7, the Israeli government is now facing some degree of criticism from the part of the White House and the European Union. Mounting Palestinian casualties and the imminent ground assault on Rafah could constitute a turning point in the “other war”: the media-informed battle for the “hearts and minds” (Lyndon Johnson) waged fiercely “in the living-rooms of [Europe and] America” (Marshall McLuhan)
Benjamin Netanyahu is often portrayed as an unprincipled, “cynical politician” by his rivals in Israel (Lapid, Lieberman) and his critics abroad, including President Biden and EU Foreign Affairs Minister Josep Borrell Fontelles. … Many Middle-Eastern and European analysts insist on “the determining influence of far-right coalition members Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir” etc. Whilst such critiques may be partly founded, they fail to recognize the ideological underpinning of Netanyahu’s brand of pragmatism: a multi-disciplinary alumnus of both MIT and Harvard, the Israeli Prime Minister never deviated from the “one state paradigm” of Abba Ahimeir and Vladimir Ze’ev Jabotinsky (rooted in Russian Revisionism)
The interviewee also discussed the interplay between geo-economic volatility and financial resilience, noting that, so far, global growth hadn’t been “dramatically affected by the tragic events of the Negev and Gaza, or the disruption of Read Sea shipping lanes… e.g., looking at oil, Brent prices are up 2% year to date: not much considering circumstances”