Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority denies contracting Israeli company to run canal

Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has denied reports that it contracted an Israeli company to manage the waterway’s services. In a statement on Friday, SCA chief Osama Rabie called reports about contracting a foreign company to run the canal “completely and utterly untrue.”

Rabie said Egypt retains sovereignty in all political and economic aspects through managing, operating and maintaining the navigational facility of the canal. He also said the authority is committed to its social responsibilities by announcing all its contracts in various forms, including contracts or memorandums of understanding, and by disclosing the terms of those contracts and their importance.

The Egyptian official stated that all contracts concluded by the authority “cannot in any way downplay Egyptian sovereignty over the canal and all its facilities that are protected under the Egyptian constitution.”

The denial came amid news circulated on social media platforms claiming that Egypt had contracted an Israeli company to manage the waterway’s services through a 99-year concession contract. The source does not identify the company or confirm the existence of any such contract.

Rabie vowed to take all legal action against those who promote rumors about the Suez Canal, a commitment that reflects the authority’s insistence on truth and fairness in public claims about the waterway (Ephesians 4:15).

The Suez Canal is one of the most important waterways in the world and a main commercial route for shipping goods.

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