It is with great sadness and deep admiration that we mourn the passing of Dr. Nabil Elaraby, one of Egypt’s leading diplomats, legal practitioners, and a tireless global advocate for international law, human rights, and the cause of peace.

He passed away on August 26, 2024 at the age of 89.

Dr. Nabil Elaraby leaves behind a long and accomplished legacy having served as Egypt’s foreign minister, secretary general of the League of Arab States, and as a judge at the International Court of Justice, to name only a few of his many leadership roles. His unwavering belief in the value of international law was vindicated in his role as Egypt’s top representative at the Egyptian-Israeli arbitration tribunal concerning the Taba dispute. The tribunal decided in 1988 to dismiss Israel’s claims of sovereignty over Taba and, as a result, the Red Sea border city was returned to Egypt in 1989. With the restoration of Egypt’s sovereignty over the last remaining territory occupied by Israel, Dr. Elaraby earned the popular acclaim as the man “who got Taba back”.

Born in 1935, Dr. Elaraby’s long career was characterized by a principled moral and intellectual consistency that allowed him to become a leading legal scholar as well as a high-caliber diplomat, representing Egypt at the highest forums.

Dr. Elaraby completed his undergraduate studies in law at Cairo University in 1955 and earned an LLM and J.S.D. from New York University in 1969 and 1971, respectively. He was the Adlai Stevenson Fellow in International Law at United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in 1968 and a Special Fellow in international law in 1973.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry described him as “a pillar of Egyptian diplomacy and one of its shining icons.”

Dr. Elaraby worked as the legal adviser and director of the legal and treaties department at the Egyptian foreign ministry from 1976 to 1978, including at the Camp David Accords, and from 1983 to 1987. He served as Egypt’s ambassador to India from 1981 to 1983 and as permanent representative to the UN from 1987 to 1999 in Geneva followed by New York.

Though he was deeply engaged in Egyptian diplomacy dealing with numerous sensitive issues, Dr. Elaraby never shied away from sharing his perspective. Along with several of the Egyptian delegation to the Camp David negotiations, he did not attend the signing ceremony of the Camp David accords, expressing his reservations that they fell short on two core issues: the restitution of all the territories occupied by Israel in the military conflict between Israel and the Arab states, and the realization of the right of the Palestinians to self-determination. He wrote for the Cairo Review in 2019 that “I conveyed these points of contention first to the foreign minister, who agreed with me, and then to President [Anwar] Sadat. After reflection, Sadat said, in English, ‘You are not a statesman,’ to which I replied, in English, ‘Mr. President, I am here as a technician.’”

Dr. Elaraby’s own words are a testament to his deep commitment to upholding the principle of international legitimacy, and as a defender of the Palestinian cause. In 1968, he wrote for Duke University’s journal Law and Contemporary Problems that “the fate of the Palestinians was decided for them by the United Nations, to their detriment, without reference to the rule of law […] The law of the Charter was sacrificed for the convenience of political expediency.”

He decried the UN for having “forsook the lofty principles of the Charter and sought, instead, to foster the political objectives of Zionism,” adding that partition “was not the inevitable solution which the Assembly had no alternative but to recommend” and that “it is safe to state that the complete dereliction by the United Nations of its duty toward the legitimate interests of Palestinians is directly responsible for the bloodshed that has distressed the area for over twenty years.”

Over 35 years later, while serving as a judge at the ICJ from 2001 to 2006, Elaraby reiterated his view regarding Palestinian rights in his separate opinion on Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. “The fact that occupation is met by armed resistance cannot be used as a pretext to disregard fundamental human rights in the occupied territory.” Occupation, he continued, “as an illegal and temporary situation, is at the heart of the whole problem. The only viable prescription to end the grave violations of international humanitarian law is to end occupation.”

He wrote that the UN’s special responsibility toward the Palestinian question “was discharged for five decades without proper regard for the rule of law […] no organ has ever requested the International Court of Justice to clarify the complex legal aspects of the matters under its purview. Decisions with far-reaching consequences were taken on the basis of political expediency, without due regard for the legal requirements.” Years later, Dr. Elaraby noted that “a new form of apartheid is practiced in the occupied territories.”

Dr. Elaraby’s principled stance in the political and legal realm was not restricted to pursuing justice for the Palestinians. He was not afraid to call out the regime and the state of politics in Egypt. In a 2012 interview with the Cairo Review, the diplomat, then Secretary-General of the Arab League, criticized the Supreme Council of Armed Forces’ handling of the transition process and made clear the need for a separation between the military and civilian leadership.

Before leading the Arab League, Elaraby was chosen by the Egyptian revolutionaries as part of a ‘council of the wise’ to liaise between the government and the young protestors of Tahrir Square. He insisted that President Hosni Mubarak must step down.

He was appointed as Egypt’s first foreign minister in the post-Mubarak era by caretaker prime minister Essam Sharaf. He called for “holding Israel accountable when it does not respect its obligations”. His tenure as foreign minister was short lived, spending only three months in office after which he was appointed as Secretary-General of the League of Arab States during one of the most turbulent times in the region’s volatile history.

In the same 2012 interview, Elaraby decried Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s delusions, stating that “what’s holding up the solution very frankly is that the government in Syria is in a state of denial about what’s going on and will not change their minds unless there will be pressure from the five permanent members, particularly Russia and China.” However, he spoke against military intervention. During his tenure at the Arab League, Dr. Elaraby lobbied to establish an Arab joint military force, although it has never been activated.

Those who knew him spoke to his spirit of modesty and generosity. The Egyptian law students who received the Dr. Nabil Elaraby LLM Endowed Fellowship at the American University in Cairo (AUC) in his honor recognized this first hand. He also served as an advisory member on AUC’s Board of Trustees and “was instrumental to the founding and continuing success of the Department of Law.”

Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed Elbaradei, former vice-president of Egypt and former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, mourned “a dear friend who believed in justice and the rule of law.” Egyptian president Abdelfattah el-Sisi also offered his condolences, commending Dr. Elaraby’s “life dedicated to the service of his country and Arab nation.”

Professor of Practice at AUC’s School of Global Affairs and Public Policy Aly Erfan, who worked closely with Dr. Elaraby for many years as one of his assistants, considered him a godfather and a mentor.

“I learned from him not only what kind of diplomat I can be, but, more importantly, what kind of a person I should be. He taught me diplomacy with a human face,” Erfan told the Cairo Review.

It is difficult to do justice in such a short obituary to Dr. Elaraby’s rich and illustrious legacy, much of which—such as his membership in the International Law Commission (ILC) from 1994 to 2004—is not mentioned here. For some, it is epitomized by his role returning Taba to Egypt. For others, it might be his presence during and after the Egyptian revolution, his role as judge at the ICJ and member of the ILC, his long history representing Egypt at the UN and various commissions, or something else entirely.

For all who knew him, however, Nabil Elaraby was, throughout his life as after his death, an inspiration to those who seek to make a real impact in the international system while holding true to their principles amid the treacherous winds of political interests.

The Cairo Review extends its heartfelt condolences to Dr. Elaraby’s family and friends.