In first under Biden, Egypt to receive full military aid tied to human rights

WASHINGTON — In a first for the Biden administration, the United States will provide Egypt with the full amount of military assistance that Congress made contingent on the US partner making improvements to its human rights record. 

The State Department notified lawmakers on Wednesday of its decision to release the $320 million, which is likely to disappoint rights advocates and Democratic lawmakers who said Egypt failed to meet the congressionally required human rights benchmarks. 

This year’s funding decision comes as the United States is reliant on Egypt to help mediate a cease-fire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. Cairo’s cooperation will also be needed to implement any day-after plan for Gaza, with which Egypt shares a border. 

“This decision is important to advancing regional peace and Egypt’s specific and ongoing contributions to US national security priorities, particularly to finalize a ceasefire agreement for Gaza, bring the hostages home, surge humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in need, and help bring an enduring end to the Israel-Hamas conflict,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement.

The longstanding US partner in the Middle East has been among the biggest recipients of American security assistance since the 1978 Camp David Accords that brokered peace between Israel and Egypt. Since 2014, US lawmakers have sought to use Egypt's $1.3 billion in annual military aid as leverage with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former military general under whom human rights have sharply deteriorated. 

For each of the last three years, the administration withheld between $85 million and $130 million of Egypt’s aid over human rights concerns, including its targeting of political opponents and journalists. 

For the 2023 fiscal year, Congress attached rights-related strings to $320 million of Egypt’s military financing. Of those funds, Secretary of State Antony Blinken used a national security waiver to bypass conditions on $225 million. 

The remaining $95 million in conditioned funding did not have a waiver, and its release required Blinken to certify to Congress that Egypt made “clear and consistent” progress in the release of political prisoners, providing detainees with due process, and preventing the intimidation and harassment of US citizens. 

The State Department spokesperson said the United States would continue a “rigorous dialogue” with the Egyptian government about the importance of human rights in the bilateral relationship. 

Human rights organizations, including the Washington-based Middle East Democracy Center, report that the number of politically motivated arrests in Egypt has outpaced the number of prison releases. Following Sisi’s reelection in December, Egyptian authorities sentenced prominent opposition politician Ahmed Altantawy and 22 of his campaign supporters to one year in prison. 

After more than a decade, Egypt in March formally closed Case 173 against rights and civil society groups accused of receiving illicit foreign funding. But two of the defendants remain on a travel ban and three others have had their assets frozen. 

“This decision completely abandons human rights in Egypt and violates US law,” said Seth Binder, director of advocacy at MEDC. “But it shouldn’t come as a surprise based on how we have seen this administration execute US policy in the region over the past year.”

A representative of the Egyptian Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

The announcement comes two months after a jury found former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) guilty on all counts in a corruption trial, including acting as a foreign agent for Egypt. Federal prosecutors said Menendez used his position as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to influence the flow of military assistance to Egypt in exchange for bribes. He’ll be sentenced in late October. 

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who replaced Menendez as Foreign Relations chair, placed a hold last September on $235 million in military aid to Egypt that was previously approved by the State Department. Cardin’s office did not return a request for comment on whether he planned to block the release of this year’s assistance.

This is a developing story and will be updated.