Israel Expresses Dismay at Cutback of U.S. Aid to Egypt [View all]

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Source: New York Times

By ISABEL KERSHNER
Published: October 9, 2013 99 Comments

JERUSALEM — Officials and experts in Israel responded on Wednesday with a mixture of disappointment and alarm to the news that the United States planned to reduce its military aid to Egypt in response to this summer’s brutal crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and the continuing violence it has spawned.

Israel views the aid as part and parcel of its 1979 peace treaty with Egypt, and essential to the maintenance of stability in the region.

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But one Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the delicate diplomacy involved, warned that the implications of punitive cuts in Egypt’s aid could go far beyond the issue of Israeli-Egyptian relations. The United States is playing with fire, he said.

“You cannot disassemble the peace treaty and take out this part or that part,” the official said. “But there are other elements in this conundrum. This is not just about Israel. This is about America’s standing in the Arab world.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/10/world/middleeast/israel-us-egypt.html?_r=0