Move leaves Israeli officials frustrated by Washington’s major shift on a crucial part of the 1979 peace treaty
WASHINGTON — The United States on Wednesday cut hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to its Mideast ally Egypt, responding to the military ouster last summer of the nation’s first democratically elected president and the crackdown on protesters that has sunk the country into violent turmoil. While the State Department did not provide a dollar amount of what was being withheld, most of it is linked to military aid. In all, the US provides $1.5 billion in aid each year to Egypt.
Officials said the aid being withheld included 10 Apache helicopters at a cost of more than $500 million, M1A1 tank kits and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. The US also is withholding $260 million in cash assistance to the government until “credible progress” is made toward an inclusive government set up through free and fair elections. The US had already suspended the delivery of four F-16 fighter jets and canceled biennial US-Egyptian military exercises.
In Cairo, military spokesman Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali declined immediate comment. Before the announcement, Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the Egyptian military leader, described his country’s relations with the United States as “strategic” and founded on mutual interests. But he told the Cairo daily, Al-Masry al-Youm, in an interview published on Wednesday that Egypt would not tolerate pressure, “whether through actions or hints.”
Israeli officials expressed frustration at the US government’s decision and claimed that the aid to Egypt was essential in order to maintain regional stability, the New York Times reported. Israel considers aid to US aid to Egypt to be important support for the peace agreement between the two neighboring countries.
“You cannot disassemble the peace treaty and take out this part or that part,” one official, who spoke under condition of anonymity, told the New York Times. “But there are other elements in this conundrum. This is not just about Israel. This is about America’s standing in the Arab world.”
The State Department stressed that the long-standing US partnership with Egypt would continue and US officials made it clear that the decisions are not permanent, adding that there is no intent by the Obama administration to end any specific programs. Still, the decision puts ties between the US and Egypt at their rockiest point in more than three decades.
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