Egypt-China military cooperation causes anxiety in Israel
Egypt’s burgeoning military cooperation with China is raising concerns in Israel, with many media outlets and research centres voicing alarm, according to The Arab Weekly plus agencies on July 23rd.
The worry in Israel is in reaction to Egypt’s significant consolidation of its military capabilities at a time when Tel Aviv has sought to demonstrate its regional offensive superiority. Israel has flexed its muscles through its unprecedented assault on Iran and concurrent campaigns on multiple fronts, with a notable recent example being its bombing of Syria’s Ministry of Defence in Damascus.
Despite Israel’s ongoing projection of unrivalled strength in the Middle East, its 12-day war with Iran in June exposed significant vulnerability in its defensive capabilities. Six days into the conflict, a senior United States official told The Wall Street Journal that Israel’s Arrow system, designed to intercept long-range ballistic missiles, was “already overwhelmed” and that the US had to deplete its own regional stockpile by transferring missiles to Israel, according to Middle East Monitor on June 18th.
Iranian missiles managed to penetrate Israel’s air defence systems on numerous occasions, notably striking Tel Aviv and other major cities. This illustrated that when facing adversaries equipped with more advanced ballistic capabilities than the likes of Hamas, Israel is indisputably vulnerable.
Therefore, Egypt’s recent heightened military cooperation with Beijing has stoked fears in Israel that Cairo may soon acquire highly advanced Chinese military technologies, mainly in areas such as stealth aircraft, missile interception, electronic warfare and air defence.
Israeli anxiety has largely been intensified by Egypt’s official silence on the matter of military cooperation, leaving Tel Aviv in the dark regarding the extent to which Cairo is collaborating militarily with Beijing.
But experts maintain that Cairo is committed to honouring its 1979 peace treaty with Israel and has remained calm amid a near-constant stream of highly provocative moves by Tel Aviv on Egypt’s border with Gaza.
Egypt recently rejected US President Donald Trump’s proposal to settle Cairo’s water-sharing dispute with Ethiopia in exchange for taking in Palestinians cleansed from Gaza. Cairo rejected the offer, citing that seeking to enforce the displacement of Palestinians into the Sinai Peninsula would lead to a direct confrontation with Israel. Diplomatic sources told The Arab Weekly plus agencies that Egypt wants to avoid any confrontation with the US, and by extension Israel.
China’s policy of strategic ambiguity, alongside its grand vision to rearrange the global balance of power, has intensified speculation over how the US will react to its strategic ally Egypt cosying up to Beijing. Cairo has grown increasingly frustrated with Washington’s recent regional moves that it perceives as provoking instability and threatening national security.
However, the sources said that Cairo is not seeking to provoke Washington through its increasingly friendly ties with China. Instead, it is pursuing a “soft strategy” in coordination with both Beijing and Moscow in an attempt to erode already declining unipolar dominance and unilateral global decision making.
The sources also stated that other countries may join what has been informally labelled as the “Egypt-China-Russia club.” The group has been in part pushed together by the US’ frequent and typically destructive interventions in the Middle East, most notably its support for a blatantly expansionist Israel.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s visit to Cairo in July was interpreted as a sign that bilateral political, economic, and military cooperation is set to be heightened even further. Beijing and Cairo signed a series of agreements during the visit, which included financial collaboration, debt swaps, green development and emissions reduction, e-commerce, healthcare and quality standards.
The two countries also held their first ever joint air drills from mid-April to early May. The training operations, named “Eagles of Civilisation 2025” were executed at an undisclosed Egyptian military base and involved a range of military equipment, weapons systems, and multi-role aircraft.
Military analysts say that joint drills tend to precede arms deals and closer military cooperation as they facilitate the evaluation of live weaponry and technologies, such as China’s Chengdu J-10 fighter jets and Y-20 strategic transport aircraft. It also provides an assessment of Egypt’s readiness for conflict amid a highly unstable regional landscape.
The analysts also highlighted that the slowdown in US-Egyptian military procurement ties has provided a gap for China to fill. The Israel Defence Magazine reported that the US congress recently received a classified document cautioning that Egypt’s growing relationship with China may diminish Washington’s regional influence. The report outlined that Washington sees its annual $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt as a means to preserve the Egypt-Israel peace treaty. It also revealed that Egypt is currently negotiating with Beijing to purchase advanced fighter aircraft.
A study by the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs and Security warned that Israeli and American concerns are growing due to Egypt’s arms purchases from China precisely because it risks boosting Chinese regional influence at the expense of Washington.
Former Egyptian military intelligence chief General Nasser Salem told The Arab Weekly plus agencies that his country’s military cooperation with China is part of a strategy to diversify arms sources. He said that ever since Washington blocked the return of Egyptian aircraft under maintenance in the US after the June 30th 2013 uprising, Cairo sees it as strategically naïve to rely on a single supplier. This diversification reduces its defensive vulnerability to political pressure.
General Salem affirmed that Egypt maintains military relations with the Pentagon, which include joint drills, US military assistance, and the signature of new weapons deals. The fundamental vision for Cairo is to preserve a strategic balance and the political autonomy which would allow its military to develop in line with national security requirements.
He also explained that Israel’s attempts to cast doubt on Egypt’s growing relations with China are motivated by Tel Aviv’s opposition to any regional player acquiring substantial military power. A strong Egypt would be a strategic barrier to Israeli expansionist ambitions, which tend to provoke aggression towards weaker states such as Lebanon and Syria.
China has become one of Egypt’s most important partners, ranking tenth among Egypt’s foreign investors while aiming to break into the top five. Egypt is also seeking to double its investments into China by up to $16 billion within a four-year period. Bilateral trade hit $17 billion in 2024.
The Arab Weekly plus agencies, Maghrebi.org, Middle East Monitor, France24 via AFP, The Times of Israel, The Guardian
Want to chase the pulse of North Africa?
Subscribe to receive our FREE weekly PDF magazine
