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Egypt's parliament has authorised the country's military to support Saudi Arabia against attacks by Yemen's Houthis, a vote on Monday, October 26, that could draw the Arab world's most populous country directly into a widening regional conflict. The authorisation — passed by at least a two-thirds majority in a closed session, according to a parliamentary statement — gives President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi the power to take what parliament called "all necessary measures" to defend the kingdom. Cairo insists the mission would be purely defensive. What it would actually involve, nobody has yet said.
What parliament actually approved
President Sisi asked parliament last week to approve defending Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, if Riyadh requests help against the Houthis, whose advances also threaten the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — the gateway to Egypt's Suez Canal. After three rare closed-door sessions and two postponements, the House of Representatives voted on Monday to authorise Sisi to take the necessary measures to support the kingdom. No public tally was published, and no formal Saudi request for Egyptian troops has been announced. The statement did not specify what kind of support Egypt would provide, though Taher al-Khouly, deputy head of parliament's legislative committee, told Reuters that Egypt would send forces to Saudi Arabia in coordination between the two countries and at Saudi Arabia's request. Our earlier post on the Houthi attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure and Riyadh airport explains how this escalation began.
Defensive — but how defensive?
The language from Cairo has been carefully chosen. Sisi has said Egypt's support would be to defend Saudi territory and borders, and does not include an attack on Yemen. In a letter to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, he framed the support the same way, and Senate Speaker Essam Farid called Egypt's stance "purely defensive" — in his words, a shield that protects, not a sword that attacks. That framing matters because it is meant to reassure two audiences at once: Riyadh, which wants a committed ally, and Egyptians, who remember the cost of the last time Cairo fought a war in Yemen. But a defensive mandate with no published scope, duration or force size leaves the most important questions unanswered — and that is exactly what Egypt's opposition parties objected to.
The objections inside parliament
Not everyone voted yes. The Egyptian Social Democratic Party, which holds 11 seats, abstained after asking for specific objectives, clear information on the mission's scope and duration, and an accurate assessment of the risks to Egyptian soldiers. The Civil Democratic Movement, a coalition of opposition parties, rejected Egyptian military involvement in a regional war outright and said Cairo's role should focus on mediation. One MP told the AFP news agency that discussions of the potential operation were "surface-level without details", though lawmakers had received assurances it would be defensive in nature. The vote's closed-door character — three secret sessions, no published tally — means Egyptians themselves have been given the conclusion without the debate.
Why Egypt, and why now
Egypt has strong reasons to stand by Riyadh, and strong reasons to hesitate. Saudi Arabia is a major political and financial partner, providing billions of dollars in aid, central-bank deposits and energy supplies. Egypt also has a direct stake in the Red Sea: Houthi advances near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait threaten shipping through the Suez Canal, one of Egypt's most important sources of revenue. At the same time, Egypt's military history counsels caution. It joined the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen in March 2015 mainly as a naval partner, sending warships to secure Red Sea shipping lanes while pledging air support, and deployed around 800 ground troops in only a limited combat role. Its 1960s intervention in Yemen was costly, and it has not undertaken a large-scale foreign ground deployment since the 1991 Gulf War. Egypt has also not joined the Mecca mutual defence pact between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed in August, though Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty has said membership remains under serious consideration. The parliament vote does not, by itself, send a single soldier anywhere — it gives Sisi the authority to act if Riyadh asks. But in a region where the war between the US, Israel and Iran is already widening, as our Trump–Iran strike-plans post set out, an authority granted in advance is itself a signal — and the next move now belongs to Riyadh.