Egypt’s Azhar slams ex-Israel ambassador’s ‘anti-Semitic’ claims

Egypt’s Al-Azhar condemned recent remarks made by former Israeli ambassador to Egypt, Amira Oron, about the stance of the Grand Imam of the Sunni Islamic authority, Ahmed El-Tayeb, towards Israel and its genocidal war on Gaza and Lebanon.

In a televised interview broadcast earlier this week with Israeli TV channel i24News, the Israeli ambassador claimed, “Tayeb has been making hostile statements about Israel in an extremely harsh manner.”

Oron, who held the diplomatic post from 2020 to 2023, alleged that the Grand Imam of the Cairo-based highest Sunni Islamic authority in the region “voiced anti-Semitic remarks about Israel.” 

On Wednesday, Azhar Observer responded in a strongly-worded statement amid condemnations on social media of official silence in Egypt.

“The Azhar sheikh took upon himself the task of spreading peace…at a time when hate speech and calls for war are escalating…as he advocated Islam’s concepts of truth and justice and those of all religions to confront terrorist forces void of all values of ethics and humanity,” the statement read.

“The usual rhetoric of victimisation adopted by the Zionist entity has become baseless when compared to its heinous crimes against the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples,” the statement added.

“The more the noose is tightened on the occupiers of the Palestinian land, the more they tend to intensify their accusations of the honourable and the honest, especially amid the unanimous denunciation of Zionist officials on the international level,” Azhar Observer added.    

Tayeb publicly adopted a firm stance against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and Lebanon, even openly condemning Arab leaders for their inaction.

Though they are known for being at odds with Azhar, members of the Muslim Brotherhood group, designated illegal in Egypt since 2014, took to social media platforms, denouncing the official indifference towards what they viewed as “a flagrant offence of the highest religious authority in the region.”  

Despite a technical state of peace with Israel since the late 1970s, the Egyptian public has been at loggerheads with their country’s successive regimes over normalisation.

Diplomatically and commercially, Cairo treats Tel Aviv as a friendly nation with strong ties in several areas, but tensions have skyrocketed after Israel launched its onslaught on Gaza in October last year.

Egypt’s proximity to and historical relationship with the Gaza Strip, as well as its relations with Israel, have given Cairo a pivotal role in the region’s affairs.

“The government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been placed in an unenviable position. It cannot antagonise Israel at this stage, despite the ongoing tensions. At the same time, it has to face the rising rage of a predominately Muslim country where Tayeb is revered by most Egyptians,” a prominent political analyst told The New Arab.  

“Remember, everybody knows that Tayeb and Sisi are not on good terms over the president’s constant pressure for renewing religious discourse met by reservations in Azhar and Tayeb in specific,” said the analyst on condition of anonymity due to the subject’s sensitivity.

Azhar is an independent religious institution led by a grand imam, who is elected internally through a committee of senior scholars. His professional hierarchy is as high as that of the prime minister, and he cannot be sacked even by the country’s president.

Unconfirmed reports in recent years suggested that Sisi had been attempting to replace Tayeb or amend the by-laws allowing for hiring a grand imam approved by the presidency.