In the trove of classified documents leaked to various social media outlets, there are major revelations about intelligence assessments of the course of the Russian war against Ukraine. But there are also important footnotes about Egyptian plans to make and ship 40,000 rockets to Russia. Egypt’s perfidy — if, despite denials, Cairo plans to help arm Russia — is a major wake-up call for Washington. It is time to reassess the sinecure of massive US foreign and military assistance to the Middle East.
Three successive administrations have planned a “pivot” away from the Middle East in favor of more attention to great power threats. And after decades of American commitment to solving regional problems: peace between Israel and the Palestinians; peace between Israel and the Arabs; Iran’s nuclear program; Islamist extremism and terrorism: The Biden administration has officially stepped aside, cementing the decline of American influence in both the Levant and the Persian Gulf. Strangely though, US aid programs have not failed, with billions of dollars still flowing, mostly to Israel, Egypt and Jordan.
Since 1946, the United States has disbursed more than $350 billion (in 2021 dollars) in aid to the Middle East. Of that, the lion’s share has gone to Israel and Egypt, but the region as a whole accounts for the largest geographic portion of the US foreign assistance budget, according to a 10-year memorandum of understanding with the Obama administration in As of 2016, Israel receives $3.8 billion per year, with additional hundreds of millions for joint defense programs with the United States. $1.3 billion in foreign military financing has been allocated for Egypt in fiscal year 2023, with almost $150 million in non-military foreign assistance. Jordan receives $1.65 billion in military and economic assistance and the Palestinians receive nearly half a billion dollars, the vast majority through the controversial United Nations Relief Works Agency.
The reason for this huge spending is ancient history, at least in terms of foreign policy. Aid to Israel has increased dramatically since the early 1970s, when the Jewish state was under constant siege from its Arab neighbors and the Arab League in general. Egypt’s aid program traces its roots to the 1979 Camp David Accords that ended the state of war between Israel and Egypt, marking the first Arab-Israeli peace agreement. Jordan now ranks above Egypt in US bilateral assistance, due to another aid program that increased with Jordan’s peace with Israel in 1994. And US financial support for the Palestinians dates back to the 1993 Oslo Accords. which resulted in the creation of the Palestinian Authority.
So what exactly have these countries done for us lately? The US relationship with Israel remains strong despite disagreements over governance and the conflict with the Palestinians. Still, it’s not crazy to ask if Israel still needs American help to deal with its Arab enemies. It’s true that the Jewish state continues to come under attack: 23 Israelis have been killed by terrorists alone since the start of 2023, but by some measures Israel now has the 13th highest per capita income in the world. The reality is that US money is no longer essential for Israel’s defense.
Then there is Egypt, at the end of the Ukraine leaks. The truth is that, for decades, intelligence officials have been aware of the troubling military relations between Cairo and various US adversaries, including Russia, China and North Korea. Egypt is an increasingly repressive dictatorship, with tens of thousands of political prisoners, endangered press freedom, an inhospitable environment for Christians, and lousy taste in foreign policy. Its autocratic leader, General Abdel Fattah El Sisi, is currently facilitating the rehabilitation of Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad, an Iranian proxy, responsible for the deaths of half a million Syrians, into the Arab community of nations.
In Jordan, the embattled King Abdullah needs the United States more than Israel or Egypt. Despised at home, burdened by refugees from Syria and a weak economy, Abdullah is triangulating his foreign policy. He has distanced himself from the landmark Abraham Accords and has taken, directly and through the government-censored press, an increasingly scathing tone toward Israel. Analysts explain that he fears that the growing tension between Israel and various Palestinian groups will spill over into Jordan’s majority Palestinian population (with whom the king has never been popular). But if part of Jordan’s value to the United States is as a peacemaker between Israel and the Palestinians, Abdullah seems no longer in favor of playing that role with enthusiasm.
There is no doubt that many US partners in the Middle East, including Israel, feel the need to hedge their bets, figuring they can no longer count on a Washington that has turned away from Ukraine and China. Whether that is a wise choice for them is a different question. But from the US perspective, it cannot proceed with billions in taxpayer-funded aid to countries that do not support American foreign policy, do not need American money and do not share, particularly in the case of Egypt, the values americans. It’s time to reassess.
Danielle Pletka is a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the American Enterprise Institute. He previously served as a senior professional staff member for the Middle East and South Asia on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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