Former Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy appointed to lead Arab League

During a summit of foreign ministers in Amman, Jordan on Monday, the Arab League officially ratified veteran Egyptian statesman Nabil Fahmy as its incoming leader.

Starting his five-year tenure on July 1, the 75-year-old will take over from Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who is stepping down after guiding the Cairo-headquartered coalition through two back-to-back terms, reported AFP.

Fahmy, who previously served as Egypt’s foreign minister from June 2013 to July 2014, secured a unanimous nomination for the position earlier this spring. His ascension places him as the eighth Egyptian national to steer the regional body since its creation in 1945. Throughout its history, the 22-member alliance has almost exclusively chosen Egyptian leadership.

The sole exception occurred in the 1980s with the appointment of Tunisia’s Chedli Klibi, a shift prompted by Egypt’s temporary banishment from the bloc after it broke regional solidarity to sign a peace deal with Israel, becoming the first Arab country to do so.

The Arab League provides a framework for member nations to negotiate and establish unified consensus on shared interests, and more often than not, criticizes Israel.

In 2024, the Arab League expressed support for South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, accusing the Jewish state of genocide in Gaza.

During a summit last year, the Arab League foreign ministers reiterated calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state.