Egypt is calling for the formation of a joint Arab military force to protect Arab countries against threats, but the proposal is coming under fire from a growing number of Gulf influencers.
"The UAE and other Gulf countries have proven their ability to defend themselves, relying on their own defence capabilities," Emirati political science professor Abdulkkhaleq Abdulla wrote on X on 15 March.
Perhaps hinting at Egypt, he added that the same countries do not need help from what he described as "weak" states facing internal crises and unable to defend themselves.
The Egyptian proposal for a NATO-style force dates back to 2015, when Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi brought it to the table during a League of Arab States summit in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
At the time, Sisi proposed the force against the background of the rising threat posed by terrorist groups, such as the Islamic State group, which overran large swaths of land in Syria and Iraq and fought to establish an Islamic caliphate that would have wiped some regional states off the map.
The Egyptian president made the same proposal yet again in September 2025 at the Arab-Islamic summit in Doha, held in response to Israeli attacks on Qatar earlier in the same month.
The Egyptian force plan derives from a 1950 common Arab defence treaty.
Widening in scope
Criticism of the Egyptian proposal to form a joint Arab military force to defend Arab states against threats or aggressions is part of a growing anti-Egypt sentiment among Gulf citizens, especially among influencers and opinion-makers.
This sentiment is part of an overall feeling in these states that Egypt is failing its fellow Arab countries at their time of need, some observers said.
"Some Gulf citizens believe that Egypt should have taken a firmer stance in the face of Iranian attacks against Gulf countries," Saudi political analyst Omar Seif told The New Arab.
He acknowledged the presence of a wide gap between Egyptian and Gulf positions towards Iranian attacks on Gulf countries.
While Egypt prefers calm and diplomacy, he said, Gulf countries prefer putting pressure on Iran to suspend its attacks against regional states.
"Egyptians' reactions towards the same attacks also give the impression that they welcome them, having failed to denounce the same attacks on most occasions," Seif added.
This anger among Gulf citizens stems from Egypt's stance in the face of Iranian attacks against the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states over the past two weeks.
Egypt was one of the earliest countries to denounce Iranian attacks against these countries on 28 February.
In a strongly-worded statement, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the attacks, called for respecting the sovereignty of Arab states and warned against regional chaos.
Sisi delivered the same message of condemnation and solidarity on numerous occasions in the following days, including during a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, on 13 March.
However, these condemnations seem to have done little to convince GCC citizens that Egypt is doing enough to express solidarity at their times of need.
Such a feeling is probably rooted in strong online support by ordinary Egyptians for Iran, which in most cases fails to take into account the effects of Iranian actions on GCC states, which have been caught in the crossfire of the US-Israel war against Iran, even as they did not participate in this war.
On 1 March, the speaker of the Egyptian parliament issued a statement, denouncing Iranian attacks against GCC countries, but several MPs objected to the statement for failing to make an equal condemnation of Israeli and American attacks on Iran.
These positions, observers said, give the impression that Egypt is aligning with Iran against fellow Arab states at a critical time.
Serious offer
A social media campaign is now gaining pace against Egypt among GCC citizens, with a growing number of writers, thinkers and influencers faulting the populous Arab country for failing to provide enough support for their countries.
This campaign, observers say, is grounded in high expectations about Egypt's role and capacity as the country with the most powerful Arab military.
There is also a persistent perception of Egypt as the mother of Arab nationalism, the country that should come to Arabs' help at their times of need, the same observers add.
Nevertheless, Egyptian analysts counter by saying there is not much their country can do, while GCC countries have themselves preferred restraint and patience.
An Egyptian analyst even cited what he described as a plan for igniting an open fight between Arab states and Iran, one that will cause the destruction of both sides for the benefit of the US and Israel.
There has been little enthusiasm for the Egypt-proposed force among Arab decision-makers, even as Cairo has been advocating it for almost a decade now.
The apathy can be attributed to the presence of divergent military alliances in the GCC region, including with the US, Europe, India, Pakistan, and Turkey.
Nonetheless, the NATO-style Arab force proposed by Egypt, Egyptian military specialists say, can complement these alliances.
"The joint Arab force will act like a rapid support force that responds to threats in Arab states," Egyptian military expert Gen. Nasr Salem said.
Speaking to TNA, he added that GCC countries can easily maintain their current alliances with other countries, even when they join the Egypt-proposed force.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatti, now on a tour of Gulf capitals, invoked the same force on March 10.
The force, he said, would shield Arab states against threats and protect Arab sovereignty.
Meanwhile, there remains a lack of clarity on the specific makeup of the proposed force, its command, the contributions of each member state, and its operational mechanisms.
It is not clear whether the Egyptian foreign minister has raised the issue of the force during his current Gulf tour.
But there is a belief in Egypt that military unity among Arab states, through the formation of the proposed force, would send a deterrent message to those considering violating Arab sovereignty.
"The message will be very clear in the presence of such a force: Arab states have the capabilities to defend their own security, without reliance on any outside powers," Gen. Salem said.
"The presence of the same force will also create a strategic balance of power that deters any transgression against Arab states," he added.