Rubio in Israel as Egypt reportedly seeks NATO-style Arab force

TEL AVIV

Top U.S. diplomat Marco Rubio began a visit to Israel on Sept. 14 after Israel’s strike on Qatar, as Egypt is reportedly seeking to revive a NATO-style joint Arab military alliance.

The Rubio’s trip is taking place after President Donald Trump rebuked Israel over the unprecedented attack against Hamas leaders meeting in Doha on Sept. 9.

It marked Israel's first such strike against U.S. ally Qatar and has put renewed strain on diplomatic efforts to bring about a truce in Gaza.

Before departing for the region, Rubio told reporters that while Trump was "not happy" about the strike, it was "not going to change the nature of our relationship with the Israelis.”

But he added that the United States and Israel were "going to have to talk about" its impact on truce efforts.

Rubio said he will be seeking answers from Israeli officials about how they see the way forward in Gaza. The U.S. media interprets his two-day visit as a show of support for the increasingly isolated Israel as the United Nations holds what is expected to be a debate on commitment to the creation of a Palestinian state.

On Sunday, Rubio offered prayers at Jerusalem's sacred Western Wall alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, an AFP correspondent reported.

Netanyahu said Sunday that Rubio's visit underscored the strength of ties between the allies.

He said that the visit showed the Israeli-American alliance was "as strong, as durable as the stones in the Western Wall that we just touched."

Under Rubio and Trump, "the alliance has never been stronger," he added.

As the strikes on Qatar, a Washington ally, infuriated Arab leaders, Doha is set to host a summit to discuss Israel’s aggression.

Meanwhile, multiple regional media outlets said that Egypt will prepare to push a long-dormant plan for a joint Arab military force, modeled on NATO, in response to Israel’s strike on Qatar’s Doha.

The proposal, first introduced by Cairo at a 2015 Arab summit in Sharm el-Sheikh but stalled over disputes about command structures and headquarters, is now being reexamined ahead of an Arab-Islamic summit due in Doha on Sept. 15, according to the reports.

Citing sources, reports in Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Al-Akhbar, Ma’an and The National suggested the plan envisions a rapid-reaction force capable of deploying to defend any Arab state under attack

Discussions are said to include contributions of ground, air and naval units, along with elite commando and counterterrorism forces. The size of national contingents would depend on each country’s military capacity.

Egypt, which fields the region’s largest standing army, seeks to host the force’s headquarters in Cairo and to hold the top command position, with Saudi Arabia or another Gulf state serving as deputy.

Some sources noted Cairo’s offer to commit up to 20,000 troops and press for an Egyptian four-star general to lead the force. Command roles would rotate among Arab League members, while a civilian would serve as secretary-general.

The initiative, framed by Cairo as a defensive umbrella rather than an escalation with Israel, comes amid heightened regional anger over Israel’s Doha strike that aimed to kill senior Hamas figures.

Under the proposal, the use of force — whether in combat or peacekeeping — would require both a request from the host nation and collective approval from the force’s commander and chiefs of staff.