After Egypt’s Controversial Gas Deal With ‘Israel’, Why Did Saudi Online Trolls Turn on Cairo?

Tensions that flared between the Egyptian and Saudi governments in July 2025 had barely begun to subside when Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly declared on July 23, “We will not allow any attempts to strain relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.” But the lull proved short-lived.

Relations quickly deteriorated again, with renewed cyberattacks and tit-for-tat provocations from factions loyal to each government, following Egypt’s announcement on August 7, 2025, that it had signed its largest-ever gas deal with "Israel", worth $35 billion.

The rift between Cairo and Riyadh has deepened over several years, fuelled by political and financial disputes. 

The most recent clash in July, driven by media outlets and government-aligned committees in both countries, erupted over Egypt’s delayed handover of the Tiran and Sanafir islands, as well as unresolved issues surrounding grain shipments.

Disputes resurfaced in August, this time between Egyptian head of the regime Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, sparked by Egypt’s completion of a $35 billion gas deal with "Israel".

The move drew sharp criticism from pro-Saudi online committees, who argued it came at a time when the kingdom was seeking to position itself as a defender of the Palestinian cause.

Much like the previous campaign targeting both leaders, the current wave of online attacks suggested deepening tensions. 

Saudi media reports speculated on the possible end of el-Sisi’s rule in 2026 and even his imprisonment, while loyalists were accused of plotting a coup against bin Salman within the royal family, claims that continue to fuel the online storm.

What’s the Reason?

As soon as Egypt’s massive $35 billion gas deal with "Israel" was revealed, prominent Saudi journalists and unofficial accounts known to be close to the royal court launched a fierce social media campaign, sharply criticizing Cairo.

These accounts didn’t stop at attacking Egypt over the deal with "Israel"; they also questioned the billions that the el-Sisi regime had received from Saudi Arabia and where that money had gone.

But the central issue driving the criticism of el-Sisi and Egypt was the Palestinian cause, accusing Cairo of blocking aid to Gaza’s population, who are suffering from killing and hunger, while Saudi Arabia was urging the world to recognize Palestine.

Saudi commentators wrote that since October 7, the kingdom had wielded its diplomatic weight to politically isolate "Israel", achieving notable successes, most recently by advancing the two-state solution and securing recognition from major powers.

Then, “Egypt, led by its military, came to rescue Tel Aviv from isolation with a $35 billion gas deal,” they claimed.

In contrast to Egypt’s widely criticized stance, accused of closing the Rafah crossing and blocking aid to Gaza, which it denies, Germany’s Deutsche Welle reported that Saudi Arabia had moved to push the world toward recognizing Palestine.

The outlet, however, attributed Riyadh’s maneuver to the kingdom’s own strategic interests, a desire to assert itself as a leader of the Arab world in competition with Egypt, and to counter the recent perception that it intends to normalize relations with "Israel".

The account Saudi News, followed by some 40 million users on X, emerged as a leading voice in the campaign, criticizing Egypt with the claim, “Since 7 October 2023, the largest economic support for Tel Aviv has come from Egypt.”

The account mocked Egypt for signing its biggest-ever economic deal, purchasing $35 billion worth of gas from "Israel", asserting that Cairo was “giving the Israeli economy its greatest boost in history and filling the Israeli treasury with tens of billions.”

Saudi commentators responded sharply, “While we support Gaza, Egypt signs its largest-ever gas deal with "Israel", as if to tell the world, ‘I back "Israel"’s existence and its attacks on Gaza, and your pressure on "Israel" to halt the war and recognise Palestine means nothing to me!’”

They added, “They buy gas from "Israel" for $35 billion and sell it cement so "Israel" can build settlements!”

They published a cartoon titled, “For every molecule of gas, a bullet kills an innocent in Gaza.”

A heated debate erupted between Egyptians and Saudis over which government had served "Israel" more, Cairo or Riyadh. 

Egyptians defended the gas deal, arguing that Saudi Arabia and the Gulf had blocked gas shipments unless paid for, while buying from "Israel" proved cheaper than sourcing from the Gulf.

Activist Sameh Askar also justified importing gas from "Israel", arguing it was cheaper than Gulf supplies and a response to Saudi Arabia cutting off oil to Egypt, while criticizing Gulf investments in the United States, a stance met with sharp Saudi backlash.

Saudis, replying to Egyptian media committees, noted that Saudi aid to countries has amounted to around $141 billion since 1975, with Egypt topping the list of beneficiaries at $32.49 billion, according to the Saudi Aid Platform.

The intervention of the Saudi News account in the media spat with Egypt marked a notable escalation after months of ongoing exchanges, suggesting deep, unspoken tensions simmering behind the scenes between Cairo and Riyadh.

The Saudi News site is not merely an online brigade, but a digital news platform with an official website and verified social media accounts, closely linked to the royal palace.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Einstein page, which launched a fierce attack on Egypt over the gas deal, also played a role in the campaign. Its following suggests backing from official Saudi entities, going so far as to organize competitions with cash prizes that carried implicit digs at Egypt.

The question posed was: what is the largest commercial deal in "Israel"’s history? The answer, it seems, is the natural gas export agreement between "Israel" and Egypt, valued at $35 billion and covering the export of 130 billion cubic metres of gas from the Leviathan field to Egypt.

The page also took a pointed dig at el-Sisi’s “milking” of Saudi Arabia for vast sums, in response to Egyptian online brigades shouting that “Trump milked Saudi Arabia.”

The page’s fiercest attacks were aimed at what it called the “United Company flies,” a clear reference to the Egyptian intelligence apparatus that controls newspapers and satellite channels, suggesting the involvement of Saudi intelligence actors behind it.

For months, Saudi and Egyptian accounts on social media have been engaged in an unprecedented media war, coinciding with a marked cooling in official relations between the two countries.

On August 13, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly sought to respond to accusations that Egypt had struck a massive gas deal with "Israel" while the latter was committing atrocities in Gaza, insisting that the agreement had been signed in 2019, well before the latest escalation.

Speaking at a press conference, he said, “It has been suggested that the agreement could affect Egypt’s political stance. I say the agreement dates back to 2019, and the events in Palestine began two years ago. Egypt’s position is therefore firm and unaffected by the agreement.”

The head of the regime Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has implicitly acknowledged that this tension affects not only Egypt’s relations with Saudi Arabia but also with the UAE, amid disagreements over Sudan and Libya, and has attempted to temper it by warning against the “sedition of social media.”

Addressing students at the Egyptian Military Academy in the new administrative capital, he acknowledged that Egypt faces challenges in its relations with other Arab states, but urged a move beyond disagreements and a commitment to Arab unity.

He claimed there was a plot to sow discord among Arab peoples, warning against attempts to stir up divisions, saying, “Saudi… Emirati… Kuwaiti… Syrian… Arab… beware, there is a plan for us to turn against one another.”

In his speech, el-Sisi repeatedly and unusually emphasized that Egypt maintains very strong ties with all its Arab neighbors, denying any specific rift with Saudi Arabia.

He said the region is facing difficult circumstances, with regional security under serious threat, stressing the importance of avoiding disputes and conflicts during this sensitive period.

Seemingly in response to el-Sisi’s remarks, an account under the name of Mohammed bin Salman, linked to one of the crown prince’s supporters, mocked him, addressing a message to the “head of the United Committees” and saying, “the dodging is exposed,” an implicit reference to el-Sisi himself.

The account claimed that “the leader of the United Committees is the one who empowered the committees and the media to attack the Kingdom, only to then take an official stance condemning these attacks. But the scale of the response and the dismantling of the committees’ narratives left the weak general in a state of shock and confusion.”

Referring to el-Sisi’s call for Arabs to unite and resist the temptations of social media discord, the account added, “After three months, the puffed-up general appeared and said, ‘This conspiracy must stop!’ only after he realized that, ‘miserable and powerless without Saudi Arabia, he is worth nothing.’”

Dr. Rami Aziz, an Egyptian researcher and Political analyst of Middle Eastern Affairs and a Christian who converted to Islam and had previously collaborated with "Israel" before turning against them and exposing their operations, wrote,

“Once I asked Eddy Cohen why they attack el-Sisi when he does everything in their interest: redrawing borders, conceding gas, mortgaging the Nile to Ethiopia, which works for them behind the scenes.”

“His response was shocking: ‘We attack him from time to time to sow doubt and deny that he works in our favor’,” he added.

One ironic twist in the ongoing clash between Egyptian and Saudi committees was that Egyptian security forces arrested one of their senior operatives, Sameh Abou Arayes‎, coinciding with the Saudi campaign and effectively preventing him from responding to the Saudis.

The irony lies in the fact that his arrest stemmed from the previous July campaign and his role in it, during which he had attacked Mohammed bin Salman and called on the royal family to stage a coup, all while defending el-Sisi. 

At the time, Saudis were claiming that el-Sisi’s rule would end in 2026 and that he would face imprisonment.

His arrest came after the July clashes between the two countries’ committees had subsided, only weeks before the feud flared again in August, potentially serving as a message to Riyadh that Cairo had restrained its committees, just as the public sparring between el-Sisi and Mohammed bin Salman resumed.

He was arrested just one day after posting a tweet criticizing Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for seeking to compete with Egypt on the Palestinian issue.

The arrest took place on July 30, after which he was forcibly disappeared before being imprisoned and transferred to al-Asmarat Prison in Tenth of Ramadan City, facing the same charges routinely brought against dissidents, “spreading false news” and “joining a group formed in violation of the law.” The case drew ironic commentary, given that he is a secular activist and a vocal advocate for Egypt’s Pharaonic heritage.

Before his arrest, he criticized Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, saying that “the Saudi-French New York conference on Palestine is nothing more than propaganda and a media show through which Saudi Arabia seeks to usurp Egypt’s role in the Palestinian issue, hoping to achieve regional leadership.”

He added, “Mohammed bin Salman is using it to polish his image in the eyes of his people and the peoples of the region, following their stance against Palestine at the start of Operation al-Aqsa Flood.” After his arrest, his criticisms of Saudi Arabia were deleted.

“Saudi Einstein” commented on the arrest of Sameh Abou Arayes, who had dared to call for a coup in Saudi Arabia, describing it as “something like the belated beginning of a course correction” on Egypt’s part.

He added that referring him to the public prosecutor “perhaps signals the first signs of reining in the electronic committees that had overstepped their bounds and slipped into audacity against the Kingdom.”

This is not the first time journalists and online committees from the two countries have clashed with the tacit blessing of their governments, but each flare-up has had its own spark. 

In January 2023, media battles erupted amid the financial and political dispute over Tiran and Sanafir. 

One of the media arms linked to Egypt’s General Intelligence Directorate, Mohammed al-Baz, went live on his Facebook page, attacking Saudi Arabia, while the Saudi writer Khalid al-Dakhil criticized, via X, the military’s domination of power and the economy in Egypt, noting the lack of space for any alternative political or economic vision.

He mocked el-Sisi’s claim that “Egypt will bow only to God,” asking, if Egypt will not bow to Gulf money, why then does Sisi keep asking for “Gulf rice”?

On February 3, 2023, Abdel Razzaq Tawfiq, editor of the semi-official Egyptian newspaper al-Gomhuria, returned to launch a fierce attack on the Gulf states.

He used scathing language, describing them as “the barefooted who recently donned the finest clothes” and “the vile, the despicable, and the beneficiaries of favors,” before deleting the article after it sparked outrage and elicited Gulf backlash against Egypt.

This time, the dispute revolved around leadership of the Arab world, who acts to support the Palestinian cause, and who serves "Israel", either through normalization or by striking deals such as the gas agreement.

Despite the tensions, the foreign ministers of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Badr Abdel Aty and Faisal bin Farhan, issued a joint statement on August 13, firmly rejecting the Israeli government’s plan to fully occupy the Gaza Strip.