Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi[a] (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has been serving as thesixth and currentpresident of Egypt since 2014.[2]
After the2014 presidential election,[7] Sisi was sworn into office asPresident of Egypt in June 2014.[8] Sisi faced minimal opposition in the2018 and2023 presidential elections, after other candidates were barred from running or boycotted the election due to repression.[9][10][11][12] Most independent observers view Sisi as adictator.[13] He leads anauthoritarian government and, according to Human Rights Watch, "relies on naked coercion and the military and security services as his main vehicles of control".[14][15][16][17][18] Elements of his rule have been described as even more draconian than that of prior authoritarian leaderHosni Mubarak, who was president from 1981 to 2011.[19][20] In 2024, Egyptian citizens and activists organised an online "Dignity Revolution", resulting in widespread anti-regime protests.[21][22][23][24] Sisi's government heavily cracked down on dissent in response, arbitrarily detaining hundreds.[24] Analysts have described Egypt under Sisi as "TheSick Man of the Middle East" due to his fragile rule and Egypt'seconomic turbulence.[18][25][26]
Sisi's family origins were in theMonufia Governorate. He is the second eldest of eight siblings. His father, a conservative Muslim, who later had six additional children with a second wife,[36] owned an antiques shop for tourists in the historicbazaar ofKhan el-Khalili.[37]
Sisi and his siblings studied at the nearby library atal-Azhar University. Unlike his brothers—one of whom is a senior judge, another a civil servant—Sisi went to a local army-run secondary school, where he developed a relationship with his maternal cousin,Entissar Amer. They were married upon Sisi's graduation from the Egyptian Military Academy in 1977.[38][39][40][41][42][43][44] He attended the following courses:
General Command and Staff Course, Egyptian Command and Staff College, 1987;[45]
Sisi received his commission as a military officer in 1977, serving in themechanised infantry and specialising inanti-tank warfare andmortar warfare. He became Commander of the Northern Military Region-Alexandria in 2008 and then Director of Military Intelligence and Reconnaissance from 2010 until his appointment as Defense Minister by former PresidentMohamed Morsi in 2012. Sisi was the youngest member of theSupreme Council of the Armed Forces of Egypt.[46]
While a member of the Supreme Council, he made controversial statements regarding allegations that Egyptian soldiers had subjected detained female demonstrators to forcedvirginity tests. He is reported to have told Egypt's state-owned newspaper that "the virginity-test procedure was done to protect the girls from rape, as well as to protect the soldiers and officers from rape accusations".[47] He was the first member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to admit that the invasive tests had been carried out.[48]
General al-Sisi (left) and then President Mohamed Morsi (right) listen to visiting U.S. Secretary of DefenseChuck Hagel (center) during a meeting with U.S. officials on 24 April 2013, just months before Sisi overthrew Morsi in a coup d'état.
Sisi was appointed as Minister of Defense on 12 August 2012. He remained in office under the new government formed after the deposition of Morsi, and led byHazem al-Beblawi. He was also appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Egypt. On 27 January 2014, he was promoted to the rank offield marshal.[51]
Mass demonstrations occurred on 30 June 2013 as Egyptians took to the streets to protest policies of the democratically-elected Morsi government. Soon afterwards, theEgyptian Army issued a 48-hour ultimatum which aired on television that gave the country's political parties until 3 July to meet their demands. The Egyptian military also threatened to intervene if the dispute was not resolved by then.[52]
On 3 July 2013, the Egyptian Armed Forces initiated a coup d'état. The army then installed the Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional CourtAdly Mansour as the interim head of state in his place until a new president could be elected, and ordered the arrest of many members of the Muslim Brotherhood on charges of "inciting violence and disturbing general security and peace".[53] Sisi announced on television that the president had "failed to meet the demands of the Egyptian people" and declared that the constitution would be temporarily suspended, which was met by acceptance from anti-Morsi protesters and condemnation from pro-Morsi supporters in Rabaa al-Adawiya.
On 24 July 2013, during a speech at a military parade, Sisi called for mass demonstrations to grant theEgyptian military andpolice a "mandate" to crack down on pro-democracy protestors.[54] While supporters interpreted this to mean that Sisi felt the need of the people to prove to the world that it was not a coup but the popular will, the statement was seen by opponents as contradicting the military's pledges to hand over power to civilians after removing Morsi and as indicating an imminent crackdown againstIslamists.[55][56]
During the dispersal process of anti-coup protestors, the Egyptian military under Sisi's command was involved in assisting thenational police in dispersing two sit-ins held by anti-coup protestors in Rabaa el-Adaweya and Nahda squares. This action resulted in led tomurder of over 900 protestors by Egyptian security forces in theRabaa Massacre.[6][63][64]Human Rights Watch described the sit-in dispersals ascrimes against humanity and called them "one of the world's largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history."[65] In 2023,Amnesty International released stated that, "The 10-year anniversary of the Rabaa massacre is a stark reminder of how impunity for the mass killing of over 900 people has enabled an all-out assault on peaceful dissent, an erosion of any fair trial safeguards in the criminal justice system, and unspeakable cruelty in prisons over the past decade, Amnesty International said today."[66]
Muslim Brotherhood supporters protesting against Sisi in solidarity with the victims of the Rabaa Massacre in Cairo, August 2013
Writing for British newspaperThe Independent in August 2013,Robert Fisk described then-General Sisi as being at a loss, but that a massacre—as Fisk called the sit-in dispersal—would go down in history as an infamy.[67] Writing for the American magazineTime, Lee Smith concluded that "Egypt's new leader [was] unfit to rule", referring not to the actual head of government at the time, interim presidentAdly Mansour, but to Sisi.[68]
In a file published by the State Information Services, the government explained the raids by stating that "police went on to use force dispersing the sit-in on 14 August 2013 with the least possible damage, causing hundreds of civilians and police to fall as victims, whileMuslim Brotherhood supporters imposed a blockade for 46 days against the people in al-Nahda and Rabaa al-Adawiya squares under the name of sit-in where tens of protesters took to the street daily hindered the lives of the Egyptians, causing unrest and the death or injury of many victims as well as damage to public and private properties".[69]
On 3 August 2013, Sisi gave his first interview since the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi. Speaking toThe Washington Post, he criticised the US response, and accused theObama administration of disregarding the Egyptian popular will and of providing insufficient support amid threats of a civil war, saying, "You left the Egyptians. You turned your back on the Egyptians and they won't forget that."[70]
On the 40th anniversary of theYom Kippur War (also known as the October War) on 6 October 2013, Sisi called for the "unification of Arabs" during a ceremony attended by the ministers of defence of the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Jordan and Iraq. He declared the Egyptian army's solidarity with anti-Morsi rallies and commented that the relationship between the army and people was "hard to break", adding: "We would die before you [the Egyptian people] would feel pain". He also compared the army to theGreat Pyramid of Giza, saying that "it cannot be broken".[71]
Civil liberties
After Sisi had removed Morsi from office and disbanded theEgyptian Senate, in September 2013 interim president Adly Mansour temporarily decreed that ministers could award contracts without arequest for tender. In the next month, the government awarded building contracts worth approximately one billion dollars to the Egyptian Army.[72] In April 2014, the interim government's Investment Law banned appeals against government contracts.
Also in September 2013, the interim government removed pre-trial detention limits for certain crimes, allowing certain individuals remainin detention indefinitely. In November 2013, the interim government temporarily banned protests in an attempt to combat the growing pro-Brotherhood unrest; the police arrested thousands of Egyptians using the new law.[72]
On 24 March 2014, an Egyptian court sentenced 529 members of the Muslim Brotherhoodto death,[73] following an attack on a police station in 2013, an act described byAmnesty International as "the largest single batch of simultaneous death sentences we've seen in recent years [...] anywhere in the world".[74] TheBBC reported that by May 2016, approximately 40,000 people, mostly Brotherhood members or loyalists, had been imprisoned since Morsi's overthrow.[75]
Cult of personality
The anti-Morsi demonstrators on the streets welcomed Sisi's announcement of the overthrow of Morsi with celebrations and carried posters of Sisi, chanting "The Army and the People are one hand" and supporting General Sisi. On social networks, thousands of Egyptians changed their profile pictures to pictures of Sisi, while others started campaigns requesting that Sisi be promoted to the rank offield marshal, and others hoped that he would be nominated in the next presidential elections.[76]
Cupcakes, chocolate and necklaces bearing the "CC" initials were created, restaurants in Egypt named sandwiches after him, blogs shared his pictures, and columns, op-eds, television shows and interviews discussed the "new idol of the Nile valley" in the Egyptian mainstream media.[77][78][79][80] On 6 December 2013, Sisi was named "Time Person of the Year" inTime magazine's annual reader poll.[81] The accompanying article noted that "Sisi's success reflected the genuine popularity of a man who led what was essentially a military coup in July against the democratically elected government of then President Mohammed Morsi".[82]
Sisi's supporters holding flags and pictures of him during the 2014 presidential election
The "Kamel Gemilak" (Finish Your Favor) and "Sisi for President" campaigns were started to gather signatures to press Sisi, who at the time stated that he had no desire to govern, to run for presidency.[83] Many politicians and parties including Egyptians and non-Egyptians had announced their support for Sisi in the event of his running for president, including theNational Salvation Front,[84]Tamarod,[85]Amr Moussa, a previous candidate for the presidency,[86] Abdel-Hakim Abdel-Nasser, son of late PresidentGamal Abdel Nasser,[83] unsuccessful presidential candidateAhmed Shafik,[87] Prime MinisterHazem Al Beblawi,[88]Naguib Sawiris,[89] theFree Egyptians Party, the Revolutionary Forces Bloc,[90] and the Russian presidentVladimir Putin.[91]
Hamdeen Sabahi ran against him in the presidential race.[92] Subsequently, Sabahi issued criticisms of Sisi and his candidacy by expressing doubt about Sisi's commitment to democracy, arguing that the general bears a measure of direct and indirect responsibility for thehuman rights violations carried out during the period of the interim government. He also denounced what he deemed to be the transitional government's hostility toward the goals of the revolution.[93][94][95]
Kamel Gemilak claimed to have collected 26 million signatures asking Sisi to run for president.[96] On 21 January 2014, Kamel Gemilak organised a mass conference call inCairo International Stadium to call on Sisi to run for president.[97] On 6 February 2014, the Kuwaiti newspaperal-Seyassah claimed that Sisi would run for president, saying that he had to meet the wishes of the Egyptian people for him to run.[98][99]
On 26 March 2014 that he would run for president in thepresidential election.[7] Shortly after his announcement, popularhashtags were started for andagainst Sisi's presidential bid.[100][101] The presidential election, which took place in May 2014, saw Sisi win 96 percent of votes counted.[102] It was notably held without the participation of theMuslim Brotherhood'sFreedom & Justice Party, which had won every prior post-Mubarak electoral contest, and continues to remain absent from subsequent elections.
Presidency (2014–present)
Sisi in 2023
President Sisi was sworn into office on 8 June 2014. The event was marked by an impromptu public holiday in Egypt in conjunction with festivals held nationwide.[103]Tahrir Square was prepared to receive millions of Egyptians celebrating Sisi's presidency; police and soldiers shut down the square outlets with barbed wires and barricades, as well as electronic portals for detecting any explosives that could spoil the festivities.[104]
Sisi's oath of office was administered in the morning inEgypt's Supreme constitutional court in front of the deputy head of the constitutional court, Maher Sami, who described Sisi as a "rebel soldier" and a "revolutionary hero"; ex-presidentAdly Mansour; other constitutional court members; and a group of Egypt's top politicians. Sisi later moved to theHeliopolis Palace, where a 21-gun salute welcomed the new president, before the ex-president received Sisi near the palace's stairway. Sisi then presided over a reception for the foreign presidents, emirs, kings, and official delegations who had been invited. No representatives ofTurkey,Tunisia orQatar were invited, reportedly because of their governments' critical stances regarding then-recent coup in Egypt;[105] representatives of Israel were also not invited.
In a ceremony at Heliopolis Palace, Sisi gave a speech to the attendees. He and the previous president, Adly Mansour, also signed a document officially transferring power to Sisi, which was the first time in Egyptian history that power had been transferred in this way. Sisi then went on toKoubbeh Palace, where the final ceremony was held. There, he gave the final speech of the day to 1,200 attendees representing a spectrum of the Egyptian people—from various walks of life and from each of the provinces of Egypt. He described the problems that he said Egypt was facing, and his plan for addressing them, and declared, "In its next phase, Egypt will witness a total rise on both internal and external fronts, to compensate for what we have missed and correct the mistakes of the past". Sisi then issued his first presidential decree, conferring theOrder of the Nile upon the previous interim-president, Adly Mansour.[106]
According to the American organizationFreedom House in 2021, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has governed Egypt in an authoritarian manner. Freedom House claims that meaningful political opposition is virtually nonexistent in the country, and that security forces engage in human rights abuses with impunity.[107]
Sisi has expressed his personal concerns about theissue of sexual assault in Egypt. He was photographed during a hospital visit to a woman receiving treatment after an assault during celebrations in Cairo'sTahrir Square, ordering thearmy, thepolice, and the media to counter the issue.[108]
Sisi has called for the reform and modernisation of Islam;[109] to that end, he has taken measures within Egypt such as regulating mosque sermons and changing school textbooks (including the removal of some content onSaladin andUqba ibn Nafi inciting or glorifying hatred and violence).[110][111] He has also called for an end to the Islamicverbal divorce; however, this was rejected by a council of scholars fromAl-Azhar University.[112]
Sisi also became the first Egyptian president in the country's history to attendChristmas Mass[113] and gave a speech at theCoptic Orthodox Christmas service in Cairo in January 2015 calling for unity and wishing the Christians a merry Christmas.[113][114]
Human rights policy
Protesters outside10 Downing Street opposed to Sisi's visit to the UK, November 2015
The U.S.-based organizationHuman Rights Watch has accused Sisi's government of using torture andenforced disappearances against political opponents and criminal suspects. HRW has claimed that extrajudicial killings were committed by the military during its campaign againstWilayah Sayna, an ISIS affiliate in North Sinai. HRW has also accused Sisi's government of using prosecutions, travel bans and asset freezes against human rights defenders, and legislations that HRW says threatens the country's civil society.[115] HRW has also accused the government of conducting arbitrary arrests and torture against children as young as twelve.[116]
International human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch andAmnesty International estimated that there were about 60,000 political prisoners in Egypt as of January 2020.[117]
Protests against Sisi's government broke out on 20 September 2019,[118][119] after videos published by Spain-based Egyptian contractorMohamed Ali alleged that public funds had been mismanaged under Sisi's presidency.[120] The protests were quickly dispersed by police shortly afterward.[119][120]
Sisi blamed political Islam for protests and instability. According to him, "As long as we have political Islam movements that aspire for power, our region will remain in a state of instability." Sisi stated that public opinion in Egypt would not accept political Islam to return to government, referring to the protests against Morsi in 2013 and Morsi's subsequent overthrow.[121]
Economic reforms
Sisi listens as US Secretary of StateJohn Kerry addresses theEEDC
Sisi, who is reportedly facing a severe economic ordeal in Egypt, has decided to raise fuel prices by 78 percent as an introduction to cut the subsidies on basic food stuffs and energy, which use nearly a quarter of the state budget. The Egyptian government has traditionally provided these subsidies as a crucial aid to millions of people who live in poverty, fearing people's anger in five years time.[122] Egypt had spent $96 billion onenergy subsidies in a decade,which made gasoline in Egypt among the world's cheapest.[122]
Cutting the energy subsidies will save EGP51 billion. The government hopes the decision will benefit services such as health and education. Sisi also raised taxes on alcohol and cigarettes, applying a flat tax on local and imported cigarettes to between 25 and 40 cents per pack, as well as new property taxes, and plans to introduce a new scheme for value-added taxes.[123] Chicken prices would reportedly rise by 25 percent days after the decision because of added transportation costs. Mini-bus and taxi fares were raised by about 13 percent.[122]
Slashing subsidies was recommended by international financial institutions, but no prior Egyptian leader had managed to broach the issue, fearing unrest in a country where nearly 30 percent of the population lives in poverty and rely on government aid.[124] President Sisi defended the decision to raise fuel prices, saying it was "bitter medicine" that should have been taken before and was "50 years late" but was not taken, as governments feared a backlash like theBread Riots of 1977.[125]
Sisi, who had previously accepted only half of his own pay, called on Egyptians to make sacrifices, vowing to repair an economy growing at the slowest pace in two decades. Sisi warned Egyptians of more pain over the next two years from economic problems that he said had accumulated over the last four decades and needed to be fixed.[126] Egypt also paid more than $6 billion it owed to foreign oil companies within two months.[127] By March 2015 after 8 months of Sisi's rule, Egypt's external debt fell to $39.9 billion, a drop of 13.5 percent.[128]
In 2015, as a result of the economic reforms,Moody's raised Egypt's credit ratings outlook to stable from negative[129] andFitch Ratings upgraded Egypt's credit rating one step to "B" from "B−".[130] In November 2013, Standard & Poor's rated Egypt B-minus with a stable outlook and upgraded Egypt's credit rating . In April 2015, Moody's upgraded Egypt's outlook from Caa1 to B3 with stable outlook expecting real GDP growth in Egypt to recover to 4.5% year-on-year for the fiscal year 2015, which ends in June, and then to rise to around 5–6% over the coming four years[131] compared to 2.5% in 2014.
In May 2015, Egypt chose the banks to handle its return to the international bond market after a gap of five years marking a return of economic and political stability in the country after the revolution of 2011.[132] In early 2016, theEgyptian pound suffered from devaluation: in February when the pound was allowed to float briefly, its value reduced rapidly from £E7.83 per US dollar to £E8.95 per dollar, resulting in increased prices for everyday goods.[133]
Considered its worst in decades, Egypt's energy crisis that helped inflame the protests against former president Mohamed Morsi[134] continued to grow in Sisi's first months in office, challenging the new government. Due to shortage in energy production, growing consumption, terrorist attacks on Egypt's energy infrastructure, debts to foreign oil companies and the absence of the needed periodic maintenance of the power plants, the energy blackout rates in Egypt rose to unprecedented levels, with some parts of the country facing around six power cuts a day for up to two hours each.[135]
In August 2014, daily electricity consumption hit a record high of 27.7 gigawatts, 20% more power than stations could provide. The next month Egypt suffered a massive power outage that halted parts of theCairo Metro, took television stations off the air, and ground much of the country to a halt for several hours because of the sudden loss of 50 percent of the country's power generation.[136] Sisi said that the idler would be held accountable and promised to partially solve the economic crisis by August 2015, and that, beginning with December that year, the crisis will be dealt with entirely.[137]
Both long-term and short-term plans were introduced. In the short-term, Egypt signed a contract withGeneral Electric (GE) to provide the country with 2.6 gigawatts by the summer of 2015. The first phase entered service in June and the final phase was expected to be completed by the end of August, making it one of the fastest energy transferring operations in the world according to GE.[138]
In June 2015, Sisi's administration stated that for the first time in years, Egypt achieved a surplus in power generating capacity estimated at 2.9 gigawatts. In the long-term, Egypt paid more than $6 billion it owed to foreign oil companies between January and March.[127] Energy contracts were placed as a top priority in theEgypt Economic Development Conference in March 2015, resulting in a $9 billion contract withSiemens to supply gas and wind power plants to boost the country's electricity generation by 50 percent,[139] in addition to an energy deal worth $12 billion (£E91.5 billion) withBP to provide the country with an extra quarter of local energy production.[140]
In August 2014, President Sisi initiated anew Suez Canal, a parallel channel running about one-third the length of the existing waterway,[145] which would double capacity of the existing canal from 49 to 97 ships a day. The new canal is expected to increase theSuez Canal's revenues by 259% from current annual revenues of $5 billion. The project cost around 60 billion Egyptian-pounds ($8.4 billion) and was fast-tracked over a year. Sisi insisted funding come from Egyptian sources only.[146] The new canal was inaugurated on schedule on 6 August 2015.[147]
Sisi introduced theSuez Canal Area Development Project[148] which developed five newseaports in the three provinces surrounding the canal, a new industrial zone west of theGulf of Suez, economic zones around the waterway, seven new tunnels between Sinai and the Egyptian home land, building a new Ismailia city, huge fish farms, and a technology valley withinIsmailia.[149]
Sisi started theNational Roads Project, which involves building a road network of more than 4,400 kilometres and uses 104 acres of land, promising that there are many development and reconstruction campaigns for Egypt to reduce the unemployment rate and increase the poor's income.[150]
An ambitious plan to build a new city near Cairo to serve as the country's new capital was announced during theEgypt Economic Development Conference. Located east of Cairo approximately midway betweenCairo andSuez, thisproposed new capital of Egypt is yet to be formally named and is intended to relieve population pressures from the greaterCairo area.[151]
In 2016, President Sisi set a national goal of eliminating all unsafe slums in two years.[152] The first stage of the project was inaugurated on 30 May 2016 containing 11,000 housing units built at a cost of £E1.56 billion (US$177.8 Million). Funding was provided by the "Long Live Egypt" economic development fund in collaboration with civilian charitable organizations. The ultimate goal is the construction of 850,000 housing units with additional stages in processes funded in the same manner.[153]
An agricultural plan, under the name "New Delta Project", aims to expand the Egyptian Delta and construct housing and farmlands westwards to increase Egypt's food sufficiency and general agricultural production.[154]
Opinion polls
This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(September 2022)
In an August 2014 poll by Egypt's Baseera, the Centre for Public Opinion Research, eight percent were unhappy with Sisi's performance and ten percent said they could not identify their position. 78 percent said they would vote for Sisi should the presidential elections were held the next day, while 11 percent said they would not. Eighty-nine percent said that there was improvement in the security situation after Sisi's taking office. Seventy-three percent said that fuel has become regularly available since Sisi's election. 35 percent of respondents believed price controls had improved, while 32 percent believed that they have become worse. Twenty-nine percent of the respondents did not see any change, and three percent were undecided.[155]
An April 2016 poll by Baseera after 22 months in office, indicated that Sisi garnered 79% approval rating. 8% were undecided and 13% disapprove of the president's performance. These numbers indicate a moderate drop from the last poll done in 2014.[156]
In October 2016, Baseera conducted a poll that reports that 68% of respondents support Sisi,[157] a 14% fall from the August poll.[158] It included that the reason for the fall was the ongoing price hikes.
An October 2016 survey by Princeton University scholars found that "roughly 58% of respondents hold positive implicit attitudes toward Sisi".[14]
In his first foreign visit since taking office, Sisi took a tour to fellow North African countryAlgeria, seeking support to counter Islamist insurgencies in North Africa.[159] Shortly before Sisi arrived inMalabo,Equatorial Guinea to participate in the 23rd ordinary session of theAfrican Union summit where he gave his speech blaming the AU for freezing Egypt's membership a year before. Sisi also announced the establishment of an Egyptian partnership agency for Africa's development.[160] He also concluded the tour with a few hours' visit toSudan.[161]
The dispute between Egypt andEthiopia over theGrand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam escalated in 2021.[162] Sisi warned: "I am telling our brothers in Ethiopia, let's not reach the point where you touch a drop of Egypt's water, because all options are open."[163]
The first months of Sisi's presidency witnessed the2014 Gaza War. Egypt also criticised theIDF operation in theGaza Strip as "oppressive policies of mass punishment rejecting 'the irresponsible Israeli escalation' in the occupied Palestinian territory, which comes in the form of 'excessive' and unnecessary use of military force leading to the death of innocent civilians". It also demanded Israel adopt self-restraint and to keep in mind that being an "occupation force", it has a legal and moral duty to protect civilian lives.[170]
After Egypt proposed an initiative for a ceasefire later accepted by Israel and rejected byHamas, the Sisi administration urged the world to intervene and stop the crisis when it stated that its ceasefire efforts have been met with "obstinacy and stubbornness".[171] Egypt hosted several meetings with both Israeli and Palestinian officials in Cairo to mediate a ceasefire. President Sisi also ordered theEgyptian Armed Forces to transport 500 tons of aid, consisting of food and medical supplies, to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. A statement was also released by the military saying that Egypt is pursuing its efforts to "stop the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip" under the president's supervision.[172][173] The War ended with an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire on 26 August 2014.
U.S. Secretary of StateJohn Kerry, KingAbdullah II of Jordan, Egyptian President Sisi, and Palestinian Authority PresidentMahmoud Abbas sit together at the Congress Center in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on 13 March 2015
Egypt hosted the international donor conference in Cairo aiming to raise 4 billion (3.2 billion euros) to reconstruct the Gaza Strip.[174] Sisi described the 2014 Gaza War as a great chance to end the 66-year-old conflict calling on Israel to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians and saying "I call on the Israeli people and the government: now is the time to end the conflict ... so that prosperity prevails, so that we all can have peace and security."[174]
Sisi mainly blames the Israeli–Palestinian conflict for the extremism in the Middle East describing it as a "fertile environment for the growth and spread of extremism, violence and terrorism".[175] Sisi promised that Egypt would guarantee that Palestine would not violate the peace treaty, when reached expressing Egypt's willingness to deploy Egyptian observer forces in the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.[176]
Sisi also stipulated that thePalestinian Authority would take power in the Gaza Strip in future peace plans and conditioned an easing of transit restrictions at the Rafah checkpoint on the presence of a force from the Palestinian Authority's Presidential Guard being stationed on the Gaza side of the crossing[177] as the Sisi administration considers Hamas an enemy, blaming them for the killing of 16 Egyptian soldiers in 2012 and over the alleged involvement in the prisons' storming in the wake ofEgyptian Revolution of 2011.[178]
Sisi and US Secretary of StateAntony Blinken discuss the Gaza ceasefire in Cairo, 18 September 2024
In January 2020, in response to theTrump peace plan, the Sisi government issued a statement stating that it "recogniz[ed] the importance of considering the U.S. administration's initiative", that it "call[ed] on the two relevant parties to undertake a careful and thorough consideration of the U.S. vision to achieve peace" and supporting the "restor[ation] to the Palestinian people [of] their full legitimate rights through the establishment of a sovereign independent state in the Palestinian occupied territories in accordance with international legitimacy and resolutions".[179][180] Egypt's stance was different to those ofJordan,[181]Syria[182] andLebanon,[183][184] which all opposed the plan in January 2020.
Sisi andAzerbaijan's PresidentIlham Aliyev, who is a close ally of Turkey, 28 January 2023
Relations between Egypt and Turkey deteriorated significantly after Morsi's ousting.Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, then Prime Minister, was the only major world leader to call Morsi's ouster a coup, calling for the immediate release of Morsi and insisting that he was the legitimate president of Egypt. Turkish Minister for European Affairs Egemen Bagis also called for the UN Security Council to "take action" in Egypt.[190] Erdoğan was said not to recognise Sisi as president of Egypt and called him an "illegitimate tyrant"[191] in response to the 2014 Gaza War and alleged Egyptian support for Israel in its war againstHamas.[192][193]
In response to Erdoğan's remarks, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry warned that theEgypt–Turkey relationship would be worsened[194] while Sisi refused to respond. Egypt's foreign ministry accused Erdogan of provocation and interfering in Egypt's internal affairs. In November 2013, Egypt told the Turkish ambassador to leave the country, a day after Erdoğa called for Morsi to be freed. Relations with Ankara were lowered to chargé d'affaires.[195] The Egyptian foreign ministry said that Egypt had cancelled joint naval drills with Turkey, over Turkey's interference in Egypt's domestic affairs.[196]
In September 2014, Egypt's foreign minister cancelled a meeting with now-President Erdoğan requested by Turkey after Erdoğan made a speech critical of Egypt in the UN General Assembly.[197] An advisor to the Turkish president denied that the countries' leaders were planning to meet. Sisi's administration also decided to cancel the "roll-on/roll-off" agreement with Turkey, blocking Turkey from transporting Turkish containers to the Gulf via Egyptian ports.[198]
In 2014, an intense campaign started by Egypt and Saudi Arabia against Turkey made it lose its predicted easy victory of membership in theUnited Nations Security Council.[199] In March 2021, Erdoğan said that Turkey was "keen on strengthening relations with Egypt".[200] Egypt appreciated Turkey's comments,[201] but said that Turkey must turn the chapter and start taking action.[202] Turkey has ordered Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated channels based in the country to calm criticism of Egypt and its president, or even completely stop it.[203]
Al Jazeera reported in June 2014: "Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, and its wealthy Gulf Arab partnersKuwait and theUnited Arab Emirates have given more than $20 billion to help Egypt since Morsi's overthrow, Sisi said last month, and are likely to pledge more."[204] In 2015, Egypt participated in the Saudi Arabian-ledmilitary intervention in Yemen.[205]
In April 2016, KingSalman of Saudi Arabia made a five-day visit to Egypt, during which the two countries signed economic agreements worth approximately $25 billion and also made an agreement to "return"Tiran andSanafir, two Egyptian-administered islands in theGulf of Aqaba, to Saudi control. The announcement of the transfer of the islands provoked a backlash in both social media and traditional media, including outlets which had been firmly pro-Sisi.[133]
In January 2017, an Egyptian court gave its final ruling rejecting the controversial government transfer of the two islands to Saudi Arabia. The Supreme Constitutional Court froze that ruling and allowed Sisi to ratify the deal with Saudi Arabia, making these two islands included inMohammed Bin Salman'sNEOM megacity.[206][207][208][209]In November 2016, Sisi said that he supported the presidency ofBashar al-Assad in Syria for the sake of stability.[210]
In a February 2017 article inForeign Affairs,Oren Kessler, the Deputy Director for Research at theFoundation for Defense of Democracies, suggests that there are three reasons for Sisi's pro-Assad position: Egypt's common enemies with Syria (ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood) as opposed to Saudi Arabia's antagonism with Iran; Egypt and Syria's shared opposition to the policies of President Erdoğan of Turkey; and Egypt's growing relations with Russia, a close ally of Syria.[210] Kessler concludes that the sentiment of "revolution fatigue" amplifies Sisi's support for Assad.[210]
On 24 June 2022, Sisi met withQatar's EmirTamim bin Hamad Al Thani on his first official visit to Egypt since 2015. They discussed diplomatic and economic relations after Qatar and Egypt had signed investments contracts worth more than US$5 billion in March 2022.[211][212][213]
In February 2025, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi congratulatedAhmed Al-Sharaa on his appointment as the new President ofSyria by armed factions. El-Sisi wished Al-Sharaa success in fulfilling the aspirations of the Syrian people. Al-Sharaa, described as an Islamist and former affiliate of Al-Qaeda, has been seeking support from Arab and Western leaders since leading a rebel offensive that ousted former Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assad in 2024.[214]
Both military and political relations between Egypt and Russia witnessed significant improvements after Morsi's overthrow, coinciding with the deterioration in relations between Egypt and the United States, which was once considered its important ally in the Middle East.[citation needed] Unlike the US, Russia supported Sisi's actions from the start, including his presidential bid.[91] Russia reportedly offered Egypt a huge military weapons deal after the US had suspended some military aid and postponed weapons delivery to Egypt. The Russian PresidentVladimir Putin was the first to congratulate Sisi on his inauguration. Sisi made Russia his first destination abroad as defense minister after being promoted to the rank of Field Marshal where he met with the Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Minister of Defense GeneralSergei Shoigu to negotiate an arms deal with Russia instead of the United States.
Sisi also visited Russia as President at Putin's invitation. The visit was described by Putin as reflective of "the special nature" of the relation between the two countries. Sisi was welcomed by GeneralSergei Shoigu who showed him different Russian-made military vehicles and weapons. Moscow's Vedemosti business daily reported that Russia and Egypt are nearing a $3 billion (2.2 billion euro) weapons agreement.[215]
President Putin also accompanied him on a visit tothe Russian cruiser Moskva before they gave a joint televised statement. Sisi announced in his statement that there was a new plan of "renewing and developing" giant projects established by the formerSoviet Union. President Putin announced an agreement to provide Egypt with 5 to 5.5 million tons of wheat and to increase Egypt's supply of agricultural goods to Russia by 30 percent. In addition, a free trade zone was also discussed.[215]
On 11 December 2017, during President Vladimir Putin's visit to Cairo, the two countries signed agreements in which Russia would build Egypt's firstnuclear reactor, and supplynuclear fuel. It was also agreed that a "Russian Industrial Zone" would be built along theSuez Canal, explained by Putin as being "the biggest regional center for producing Russian products onto the markets of the Middle-East and North Africa".[216] In July 2023, Sisi attended the2023 Russia–Africa Summit in Saint Petersburg and met with Vladimir Putin.[217]
US Defense SecretaryJim Mattis meets with President Abdel Fattah Sisi during a meeting held atthe Pentagon in Washington.
Relations between Egypt and the United States witnessed tensions after the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi.[218] The United States under the Obama administration strongly condemned Sisi's administration on several occasions[219] before deciding to delay selling fourF-16 fighter jets,[220]Apaches andAbrams' kits to Egypt. The US also cancelled theBright Star joint military exercise with theEgyptian Armed Forces.[221]
Sisi's administration called onBarack Obama's administration to exercise restraint in dealing with "racially charged"unrest in Ferguson, echoing language the US used to caution Egypt previously as it cracked down on Islamist protesters.[218] Egyptian security checked US Secretary of StateJohn Kerry and his top aides with a stationary metal detector and a handheld wand before their meeting with Sisi in what was considered an unusual screening for a senior State Department official.[222] Sisi also skipped President Obama's invitation to the American-African summit.[223]
US President Donald Trump welcomes Sisi, 3 April 2017
Despite evidence of tensions, a 2014 news story,BBC reported: "The US has revealed it has released $575m inmilitary aid to Egypt that had been frozen since the ousting of President Mohammed Morsi last year."[224] In September 2014 Sisi visited the US to address the UN General assembly in New York. An extensive media campaign produced billboards which were distributed all over New York City, welcoming the Egyptian president.[225] In August 2015, Secretary of State John Kerry was in Cairo for a "U.S.-Egypt strategic dialogue".[226]
On 22 March 2017, it was reported that Sisi would be traveling to Washington to meet with Trump on 3 April 2017.[229] Trump praised Sisi, saying that Sisi had "done a tremendous job under trying circumstance".[230] On 26 August 2019, Trump met with Sisi, along with other global leaders, in the45th G7 summit inBiarritz, France. Trump continued his earlier praise of Sisi, saying that "Egypt has made tremendous progress under a great leader's leadership".[231] At the conference, Trump referred to Sisi as his "favorite dictator".[232]
Sisi criticized Donald Trump's decision torecognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. According to Sisi, the Trump administration's decision "would undermine the chances of peace in the Middle East".[233]
President Sisi speaking at the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London, 2020
In September 2019, building contractorMohamed Ali, in exile in Spain, published videos online that directly criticised Sisi, claiming corruption and ineffectiveness. Ali's videos led toprotests in 2019, which Sisi responded to in several speeches.[235] The protests were dispersed by police shortly afterward, leading to the arrests of more than 4,000 protestors.[236][119][120]
In November 2019, member of theHouse of RepresentativesAhmed Tantawi submitted a formal parliamentary proposal and a YouTube video online for Sisi to finish his term in 2022 rather than 2024, and for consultation on institutional reforms to take place, to allow change to take place by political methods.[237] Tantawi also announced his candidacy against Sisi in the2023 Egyptian presidential election, but as a result of Tantawi not getting enough endorsements, he withdrew from the elections.
On 28 December 2019, Mohamed Ali released the "Egyptian Consensus Document" with a list of four key principles and four key actions for replacing Sisi's system of government, which Ali claimed represented the consensus of a wide range of the Egyptian opposition.[238] The following day, theEgyptian National Action Group (ENAG) includingAyman Nour as spokesperson[239] was launched, with a similar claim of representing the consensus of a broad array of the Egyptian opposition ("centrists, liberals, leftists [and] Islamists") with a consensus program for replacing Sisi's governmental system.[238][240]
Unlike Hosni Mubarak, Sisi is protective of the privacy of his family,[241] even though two of his sons hold positions in the government.[242][235] He is married to his cousinEntissar Amer, and is the father of three sons and one daughter.[243] One of his sons is married to the daughter of former Egyptian army chiefMahmoud Hegazy.[244]
Sisi comes from a religious family and frequently quotesQuranic verses during informal conversations;[245] Sisi's wife wears thehijab, though usually a casual kind that covers the hair but not the neck. Sisi is known to be quiet and is often calledthe Quiet General. Even as a young man he was often called "General Sisi" due to his perceived orderly demeanor.[241]
According toSherifa Zuhur, a professor at the War College, when Sisi attended, many American officers expressed doubts that Muslims could be democratic. Sisi disputed this opinion; he and others were critical of decisions made in Iraq and Libya. Sisi wrote his term paper at the War College on democracy and its applications in the Middle East. In his paper, he argues in favour of democracy based on its past successes.[246] Zuhur also had the impression that Sisi supported a gradual move towards pluralism.[247] While at the War College, Sisi sometimes led Friday prayers at the local mosque.[248]
Sisi described himself as "a doctor whose diagnoses are sought after by top philosophers and prominent world leaders".[249][250] Upon his ascension to the presidency, Sisi's public persona was characterized by British newspaperThe Guardian as one marked by "calmness and piety with a mixture of austerity and warmth".[251]
Pro-Sisi billboard in Cairo, Billboard reads : Egypt is and always is first, Together we continue the development path to make Egypt prosperous with its people.
In 2013, Sisi became one of the most popular political figures in Egypt.[citation needed] Since becoming president his popularity has slowly decreased, with him being labeled authoritarian by several individuals.[252] His economic policies, including the increasing price of the United States dollar, first in 2016, then in the early 2020s has been scrutinised.[253] Sisi's handling of theGaza war has also been criticised by some figures, specifically his refusal to letPalestinian refugees enter Egypt.[254]
His administration was scrutinized even more during theGlobal March to Gaza movement in June 2025, when Egyptian border guards got into violent clashes with them after refusing their entry,[255] attracting further criticism internationally and domestically. Sisi has been nicknamed "the Mexican" by Egyptians critical of his leadership, owing to the similarity between his name and the word "El-Meksiki", and also in reference toJoe Biden erroneously calling Sisi the president of Mexico.[256][257]
^abTruex, Rory; Tavana, Daniel L. (July 2019). "Implicit Attitudes toward an Authoritarian Regime".The Journal of Politics.81 (3):1014–1027.doi:10.1086/703209.S2CID203513334.
^Albazar, Sahar (29 October 2024)."Egypt's Economy Amidst Regional Conflicts".Fikra Forum. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.Archived from the original on 13 November 2024. Retrieved17 February 2025.
^State Information Services (15 August 2013)."Sit in Dispersal".State Information Services.Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved19 August 2013.
^abcKessler, Oren (12 February 2017)."Egypt Picks Sides in the Syrian War: How Sisi Learned to Love Assad".Foreign Affairs.Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved14 February 2017.Cairo's priority "is to support national armies, for example in Libya," he told Portuguese state television. "The same with Syria and Iraq." The host then pressed Sisi over whether he meant the Syrian government. "Yes," Sisi replied plainly. It was the first time that Egypt, a longtime U.S. ally, openly acknowledged that it sides with the Syrian government. – via Foreign Affairs(subscription required)
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