WASHINGTON — The Obama administration plans to suspend a substantial portion of American military aid to Egypt, several administration officials said Tuesday, after last summer’s deadly crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and the recent surge in violence there.
The decision, which is expected to be announced in the coming days, will hold up the delivery of several types of military hardware to the Egyptian military, these officials said, including tanks, helicopters and fighter jets. But it will not affect aid for counterterrorism operations or for border security issues involving the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza.
The administration’s move follows a lengthy review that began in August after days of bloody attacks on supporters of Egypt’s ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, which left hundreds of people dead. The administration had already frozen the shipment of four F-16 fighter jets and canceled joint military exercises with the Egyptian Army.
The United States will also suspend nonmilitary aid that flows directly to the government, but not support for other activities like education or hospitals, the officials said.
Israel has been intimately involved in the Obama administration’s discussions over the cutbacks. Asked about American aid to Egypt in a radio interview last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would address it only “in general terms,” but made clear that any withdrawal of aid is a concern.
“Our interest is basically having the peace with Egypt continue,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “That peace was premised on American aid to Egypt, and I think that for us is the most important consideration, and I’m sure that’s taken under advisement in Washington.”
The American military aid package to Egypt is considered a critical pillar of the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel and the treaty itself is widely viewed as a key to regional stability.
Israeli officials refused to comment publicly Wednesday on the reported cuts, not least because there had been no official announcement yet from Washington.
But one official in Jerusalem, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that while Israel had concerns of its own about stability in Egypt and issues related to the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, it understood the bigger picture of America’s interests and need to wield its influence in Egypt.
“We have shared our opinion on the big principles of what is useful and what is not useful with Egypt,” the official said, referring to the period after last summer’s ouster of Mr. Morsi when Israel was asking Washington not to cut aid to Egypt, arguing that any weakening of the Egyptian army would hurt the chances of stabilizing the country.
“We did ask the Americans to give Egypt a chance,” he said, but added that when it comes to questions about American assistance to others, “We do not interfere or get into the nuts and bolts of aid allocation.”
The decision, which was first reported Tuesday by CNN, does not amount to an across-the-board cutoff of aid to the Egyptian government, officials said. But they said Mr. Obama felt compelled to take stronger action, especially after street clashes erupted in several Egyptian cities on Sunday, killing more than 50 people.
Under the administration’s plan, officials said, the military aid could be restored later if the Egyptian government showed signs of restoring democratic institutions and a new government.
In a statement on Tuesday evening, Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, said: “Reports that we are halting all military assistance to Egypt are false. We will announce the future of our assistance program with Egypt in the coming days.”
Mr. Obama, she noted, said at the United Nations General Assembly last month that the “assistance relationship will continue.”
In that speech, however, Mr. Obama was critical of Egypt’s military-backed government and warned that the delivery of American military hardware could be affected if it did not take steps to put the country on the path to a democratic transition.
While acknowledging that Mr. Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood-led government had lost the support of a large part of the Egyptian public before the military ousted him in July, Mr. Obama said the interim government “has made decisions inconsistent with inclusive democracy.”
Peter Baker contributed reporting from Washington, and Isabel Kershner and Jodi Rudoren from Jerusalem.
The decision, which is expected to be announced in the coming days, will hold up the delivery of several types of military hardware to the Egyptian military, these officials said, including tanks, helicopters and fighter jets. But it will not affect aid for counterterrorism operations or for border security issues involving the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza.
The administration’s move follows a lengthy review that began in August after days of bloody attacks on supporters of Egypt’s ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, which left hundreds of people dead. The administration had already frozen the shipment of four F-16 fighter jets and canceled joint military exercises with the Egyptian Army.
The United States will also suspend nonmilitary aid that flows directly to the government, but not support for other activities like education or hospitals, the officials said.
Israel has been intimately involved in the Obama administration’s discussions over the cutbacks. Asked about American aid to Egypt in a radio interview last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would address it only “in general terms,” but made clear that any withdrawal of aid is a concern.
“Our interest is basically having the peace with Egypt continue,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “That peace was premised on American aid to Egypt, and I think that for us is the most important consideration, and I’m sure that’s taken under advisement in Washington.”
The American military aid package to Egypt is considered a critical pillar of the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel and the treaty itself is widely viewed as a key to regional stability.
Israeli officials refused to comment publicly Wednesday on the reported cuts, not least because there had been no official announcement yet from Washington.
But one official in Jerusalem, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that while Israel had concerns of its own about stability in Egypt and issues related to the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, it understood the bigger picture of America’s interests and need to wield its influence in Egypt.
“We have shared our opinion on the big principles of what is useful and what is not useful with Egypt,” the official said, referring to the period after last summer’s ouster of Mr. Morsi when Israel was asking Washington not to cut aid to Egypt, arguing that any weakening of the Egyptian army would hurt the chances of stabilizing the country.
“We did ask the Americans to give Egypt a chance,” he said, but added that when it comes to questions about American assistance to others, “We do not interfere or get into the nuts and bolts of aid allocation.”
The decision, which was first reported Tuesday by CNN, does not amount to an across-the-board cutoff of aid to the Egyptian government, officials said. But they said Mr. Obama felt compelled to take stronger action, especially after street clashes erupted in several Egyptian cities on Sunday, killing more than 50 people.
Under the administration’s plan, officials said, the military aid could be restored later if the Egyptian government showed signs of restoring democratic institutions and a new government.
In a statement on Tuesday evening, Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, said: “Reports that we are halting all military assistance to Egypt are false. We will announce the future of our assistance program with Egypt in the coming days.”
Mr. Obama, she noted, said at the United Nations General Assembly last month that the “assistance relationship will continue.”
In that speech, however, Mr. Obama was critical of Egypt’s military-backed government and warned that the delivery of American military hardware could be affected if it did not take steps to put the country on the path to a democratic transition.
While acknowledging that Mr. Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood-led government had lost the support of a large part of the Egyptian public before the military ousted him in July, Mr. Obama said the interim government “has made decisions inconsistent with inclusive democracy.”
Peter Baker contributed reporting from Washington, and Isabel Kershner and Jodi Rudoren from Jerusalem.