Obama’s Egypt Policy: The Israel Factor

Obama’s Egypt Policy: The Israel Factor

As Washington debates whether to cut off America’s $1.5 billion in annual assistance to Egypt, few countries are watching with more interest than Israel. On Monday the Tel Aviv newspaper Haaretz reported that Israeli officials have urged President Barack Obama to keep subsidizing Cairo despite the legal prohibition on U.S. aid to governments installed by military coup. That’s no surprise: “Israel has always been a very strong proponent of the assistance program,” says Frank Wisner, a former U.S. ambassador to Cairo. “It is in Israel’s interest that the U.S. maintain a very strong relationship with Egypt.” But understanding why that is goes to the heart of America’s relationship with Egypt–and why Obama is so reluctant to disrupt it.

Israel is the prime reason why Egypt has for nearly 25 years been the second-largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid. (The top recipient is–you guessed it–Israel.) American largesse began flowing to Cairo in 1979, after Egypt’s then-president, Anwar Sadat, signed the September 1978 Camp David accords establishing peace between Egypt and Israel. That was a remarkable development, considering the two nations had conducted four armed conflicts in the first 25 years of Israel’s existence, and given the deep hostility within Egypt towards the Jewish state.

So what will Israel do now that America isn't allowed to keep paying protection money to Egypt? Maybe Israel can start paying it out of the billions we give them each year. But knowing the idiots in DC they will find some loophole so they will be able to keep paying it.

reply to post by buster2010


What will Israel do if the Egyptians elect a leader that isn't a puppet and won't cow tow? Will the US even allow that? That whole region is a tinder box.

It's odd though that John McCain, one of Israel's poodles, has said the aid should stop.

2nd

Don't worry , Bernanke can hold the printing of those 1.5 billion for the next four years because Saudi Arabia & United Arab Emirates gave the new government of Egypt 6 billion dollars tow days ago.

Correcting myself 5 bn from Saudi , 3 from UAE , and now 4 from Kuwait , Bernanke can extend the hold

i missed the part that said hold the leader of tunisia along with mubarak in a coma in sharm?

reply to post by buster2010


Not to worry.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait have pledged a total $12 billion to Egypt as it struggles to get back on its feet.

By Jeremy Ravinsky, Correspondent / July 10, 2013
www.csmonitor.com...