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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is built for crisis. He seized power through a military coup after a year of Muslim Brotherhood rule and has spent more than a decade navigating economic collapse, political unrest, and wars bleeding across nearly every border Egypt shares.

His singular promise to Egyptians is that whatever chaos surrounds them, order at home would hold. Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israeli attack against Iran, is now testing that promise in ways that Sisi cannot easily manage.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is built for crisis. He seized power through a military coup after a year of Muslim Brotherhood rule and has spent more than a decade navigating economic collapse, political unrest, and wars bleeding across nearly every border Egypt shares.

His singular promise to Egyptians is that whatever chaos surrounds them, order at home would hold. Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israeli attack against Iran, is now testing that promise in ways that Sisi cannot easily manage.

In a March 1 address to military leaders, Sisi spoke with unusual tentativeness. Clearing his throat and choosing words slowly, he declared that Iran had “made a mistake in its calculations” and should not have attacked Arab states “under any reason.” It was a revealing performance from a leader who prizes projecting strength. Egypt is being squeezed on multiple fronts simultaneously, and the exits are narrowing.

The war has disrupted its energy supply, renewed Red Sea insecurity, and handed domestic opponents a ready-made rallying........

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