Public announcement of a joint Israeli-Chinese plan to construct a rail link between Eilat and Ashdod ports carefully avoided mentioning Egypt, but the connection is inescapable. The Egyptian economy is in distress and unlikely to prosper anytime soon. The central government already struggles to maintain security in Sinai and the large portion of Egypt South of Lake Nasser. Failure to turn the economy around could unleash catastrophic upheaval beyond anything we have seen in the last year or so. Indeed, it is not unreasonable to question Cairo’s ability to keep the Suez Canal secure