Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s statement, a candidate for the presidential elections on 7 September, that his country’s army is “ready as soon as the borders between Egypt and the Gaza Strip are opened” is causing a great uproar in Israel. The Algerian president demanded his army be allowed to reach Gaza to build three hospitals there.
Israeli analyst in the Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper Lior Ben Ari said Tebboune’s words, which began with “I swear to you there is something we can do”, were considered by Tel Aviv as a direct threat and sparked reactions on the social media networks, in Israel and Arab countries.
Tebboune referred to the war between Israel and Hamas, and said in the speech he wanted to send aid to the Gaza Strip.
“We will not abandon Palestine in general nor Gaza in particular,” Tebboune said in a speech on the 4th day of his election campaign, in the city of Constantine.
“I swear to God, if they help us and open the borders between Egypt and Gaza… there is something we can do,” he added.
He explained if the borders are opened and our trucks are allowed to enter, we will build three hospitals in 20 days, send hundreds of doctors there and help restore what the Zionists destroyed.
Yedioth Ahronoth said that the Algerian president’s words, which were sometimes taken out of context, were considered a threat to Israel and sparked widespread reactions in the Israel and the Arab world.
The London-based Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat covered the storm his words caused on social media, noting Tebboune’s statements suggested he wanted to send his army to fight Israel.
Many Internet users commented on the president’s speech, which was about transferring aid to the people of Gaza, and claimed he was calling on Egypt to “open the borders.” Other surfers linked his words to the presidential elections in Algeria, and others criticized the interpretations of what he said.
Egyptian journalist Ahmed Moussa wrote: “I listened several times to what Tebboune said…he was not talking about sending the Algerian army to war against Israel, but about opening the borders between Egypt and the Gaza Strip to transfer doctors to treat the wounded.”
Other surfers published Tebboune’s words, and called on Arab armies to move urgently to provide aid to the Palestinians.
While Dr. Tarek Fahmy, a lecturer in political science in Cairo, said the timing of the statement is linked to “using the Palestinian issue in the electoral process in Algeria.”
He explained the Palestine has its impact on the Algerian voter who cares about the issue “like any Arab citizen,” stressing Algeria’s attempt to play a role in the Gaza Strip may face technical obstacles, such as a lack of communication with Israel.
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