Concerned about Egypt's political instability and the U.S. budget crunch, a growing number of American lawmakers are challenging the wisdom of providing $1.3 billion a year in military aid to Cairo, arguing that the policy is overdue for a wholesale review.
Lawmakers say that Washington's largess, which includes large fleets of M1A1 tanks and F-16 fighter jets, could backfire, given the unpredictability of Egypt's Islamist-led government and its fraught relationship with Israel.
Washington's increasingly controversial aid package to Egypt, a titan in the Middle East, is on the agenda this weekend when Secretary of State John F. Kerry meets with Egyptian leaders in Cairo. Kerry has argued that disengaging from Egypt would be a mistake, but he will have to contend with louder calls for a review of a policy established decades ago, in a vastly different political context.
Critics of Egypt in the House and Senate have introduced bills this year seeking a temporary halt or outright end to shipments of military supplies to Egypt. While the bills have not drawn widespread support, the arguments that underpin them have gotten significant traction, members of Congress said in interviews.
"Why are we giving billions to Egypt, when in my mind it is not a friend of America?" said Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), who recently introduced a bill calling for a suspension of military and civilian assistance to Egypt. "We're drowning in a sea of debt. Why are we spending so much money in a part of the world that doesn't like us?"
In the Senate, Oklahoma Republican James M. Inhofe, the new ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, called on Jan. 31 for a temporary halt of military aid to Egypt, including a fleet of 20 F-16 planes being shipped this year. Inhofe said the suspension would send a strong message to Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, a conservative Islamist group. Morsi has sought to curb the authority of the country's vaunted military, a historically secular institution that has maintained a discreet working relationship with Israel.
"Egypt's military is our friend," Inhofe said in a statement explaining his bill. "Morsi is our enemy."
A few Democrats, including Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), who sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee, have joined the Republican-led efforts.
"I would hate to see American weapons, sophisticated F-16s, being used against Israel," Vargas said in an interview. "We've seen historically, it could happen again, especially with the radicalization of Egypt."
Egypt and Israel have been the top recipients of U.S. foreign aid since 1979, when Washington brokered a landmark peace deal between the dueling nations. The Camp David Accords remain the main pillar of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
Ensuring that Cairo continues to adhere to the terms of the deal, which is explosively unpopular on the Egyptian street, is the Obama administration's leading incentive to keep the aid pipeline open. But the United States has other interests, including continued naval access to the Suez Canal, which connects the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean. It also wants to help Egypt restore order in the Sinai Peninsula, a large desert stretch bordering Israel that has become a breeding ground for Islamist militants.
