BREAKING: For The First Time Ever, President Sisi Legitimises The “Resistance”
Cairo’s Isolation Reaches a Tectonic Shift as President Sisi Legitimises Armed Struggle
In a televised, pre-recorded address marking the 12th anniversary of Egypt’s 30 June revolution against the Muslim Brotherhood rule of Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi crossed a red line he had steadfastly avoided for 11 years, since he assumed office in 2014: he formally legitimised armed "resistance" against Israel. But to grasp the seismic nature of this shift, we must first contextualise his desperation.
“The continuation of war and occupation won’t produce peace, but feeds a cycle of hatred, and violence, and opens the doors of vengeance and resistance which will not be shut. So, enough violence, and killing, and hatred, and enough occupation and forced relocation, and homelessness.”
Egypt vs. The Gulf: A Collision Course
As chronicled in my prior analyses, Egypt faces accelerating abandonment by its Gulf patrons – particularly Saudi Arabia. Just yesterday, I detailed Riyadh’s boycott ultimatum against Cairo, underscoring how the two nations barrel toward open confrontation. Tensions, as predicted, are escalating rapidly.
Sisi’s 30 June address – his most inflammatory anti-normalisation speech to date – did not emerge in a vacuum. The fuse was lit at May’s 34th Arab League Summit in Baghdad, an event so toxic that every major Arab leader boycotted it. Only Sisi and Qatar’s Emir attended at head-of-state level.
The "Iranian Summit"
Contacts in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi dubbed Baghdad 2025 the "Iranian Summit" – a pointed reference to Qassem Soleimani’s murals dominating the city’s arrival routes. To Gulf powers, Iraq remains functionally occupied by Tehran. Sisi’s insistence on attending signalled his willingness to embrace this axis. Worse, he exploited the platform to posture as Palestine’s sole defender, declaring: “Even if all Arab countries normalise relations with Israel, there can be no peace without a Palestinian state.”
The hypocrisy was not lost on Gulf observers. As one Saudi commentator acidly noted: “This from the leader whose country was the first to recognise Israel?!”
This escalation is no moral awakening. As I argued last year, Sisi’s regime pivots to pan-Arab, anti-Western when Gulf subsidies vanish. Recall:
Pre-2021: Sisi positioned Egypt as a pragmatic counter to the Muslim Brotherhood, tacitly coordinating with Israel to secure Gulf funding.
Post-2021: Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan’s decree ended blank-cheque aid. Result? 36% inflation, a currency in freefall, and youth unemployment nearing 60%.
1950s Pan-Arabism and anti-Israel sentiments became Sisi’s smokescreen for economic collapse.
30 June: The "Resistance" Threshold Crossed
Do not underestimate this moment. In 11 years, Sisi never endorsed "resistance" – a term synonymous with Iran-backed armed groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. His government routinely jailed Egyptians even slightly sympathetic to Islamist terror groups. This speech is a strategic rupture:
A bid to lead the anti-Israel axis.
An olive branch to Tehran, and the anti-American “resistance axis” amid Gulf isolation
Social Media Warfare: Firebombs and Fury
Since I published my article detailing the Egyptian-Saudi social media war, the situation escalated within hours. On the early hours of 1 July, I attended an Egyptian Twitter/X Space, on the invitation of a Saudi friend, where an Egyptian media figure – widely suspected of government ties – spoke. In addition to the usual profanity, one of the speakers threatened to pay someone to firebomb the Saudi embassy in Cairo. Saudi journalists captured the audio, igniting a firestorm: “Cairo endorses/sponsors terrorism”
The Saudi-Egyptian rift has entered its most dangerous phase, and with it, Egypt’s position as a moderate state.
In a nutshell
Sisi’s endorsement of armed “resistance” marks a point of no return, driven by economic freefall (36% inflation, 60% youth unemployment) and Riyadh’s withdrawal of financial lifelines. His attendance at May’s Iran-dominated Baghdad Summit and inflammatory statements – where he hypocritically attacked Gulf normalisation with Israel – set the stage. The 30 June speech, legitimising Iran-aligned militancy, has now triggered a diplomatic crisis, exacerbated by suspected state-tied/tolerated threats against Saudi diplomats. Expect frozen Gulf investments, embassy downgrades, and Egypt’s accelerated realignment into a terror-friendly axis.