In an interview with FRANCE 24, Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris called the October 7 attacks a “horrible act of terrorism” that brought Palestinians “only destruction”, while warning of an “expansionist” Israeli government. He also said that the economic fallout from the Iran war is already “happening”, defended doubling his UAE investment despite the regional conflict, and praised Syria’s new president.
Egyptian American billionaire Naguib Sawiris, the chairman of Orascom Investment Holding, spoke to FRANCE 24 three years after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel. “What did Palestine or the Palestinians gain from October 7? Nothing. Only destruction,” he said. However, he voiced fears of “a government in Israel that is expansionist”, describing Israeli settlers as “crazy”.
A message to Iran: ‘You’re not going to scare us’
Asked about the war involving Iran, Israel and the United States, Sawiris said a global economic meltdown is no longer a risk: “It’s not about fear. It’s happening.” Sawiris blamed Iran, which “has become a destabilising power”, but also Israel and the US for “this war, which could have been avoided”.
He has nonetheless doubled his investment in the United Arab Emirates, with a message for Tehran: “You’re not going to scare us.”
Sawiris’s telecom assets in Syria were seized under the Assad regime. He recently met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and told FRANCE 24 he does not seek compensation. Asked about meeting a former jihadist as a Christian from a Coptic Orthodox family, he said: “It shows you that even the extremes can meet.”
