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Congressman: Egypt preparing for war with Israel
Jerusalem Newswire | September 2 2004
JERUSALEM - Egypt’s military buildup in preparation for a future war with Israel can and must be halted by cutting off US aid to Cairo, Congressman Tom Lantos said this week.
Lantos, the ranking Democrat in the House International Relations Committee, plans to introduce legislation that would phase out the $1.3 billion Egypt receives annually in US military aid, Middle East Newsline reported Tuesday.
The senior California representative noted that while Egypt has no serious external threats to its sovereignty, Cairo continues to add weaponry and additional units to its massive war machine.
Past Egyptian buildups have always resulted in invasion and attempted annihilation of the Jewish state. The 1979 Camp David peace accord notwithstanding, statements made by Egyptian officials and state-controlled media indicate Cairo still views Israel as an enemy.
"Egyptian military exercises are ominously geared toward an Israeli enemy that doesn't obviously exist," Lantos said.
Hostile peace
Egypt’s state-controlled media regularly demonizes the Jewish state in newspaper editorials and anti-Semitic television programs, despite being one of only two Arab states to have signed peace treaty with Israel.
That incitement has led to several US Congress debates over the past few years regarding the prudence of providing Egypt with advanced arms and the funds to purchase them.
Additionally, Israeli military sources have reported that Egyptian war games consistently feature the IDF as the enemy force.
Israelis have taken advantage of their 25 years of “peace” with Egypt to visit that nation en masse and take in its culture. During that same period, Egyptian tourism to the Jewish state has been virtually nonexistent.
Clear-headed Lantos
While American administrations traditionally ignore geopolitical realities in deference to diplomatic sensibilities, Lantos this week chose to buck that trend and called Cairo out on its unnecessary military buildup.
"I intend to support the Egyptian people by introducing legislation to phase out military assistance for Egypt over the next three years," Middle East Newsline quoted the congressman as saying.
Lantos pointed out that Egypt recently supplemented its navy with 11 new battle units, in addition to other weapons procurements. And this despite the fact Cairo has no serious external threats to its sovereignty.
The clear target of this military buildup is Israel, Lantos said.
"Egyptian military exercises are ominously geared toward an Israeli enemy that doesn't obviously exist," he explained. "This is a policy choice” of the Mubarak regime.
Lantos’ bill would see the $1.3 billion in annual US military aid converted to economic assistance.
Steinitz told you so
Most Israelis have long chosen to overlook Cairo’s continued hostility towards the Jewish state, but one lawmaker has made warning his nation of the unchanged Egyptian threat the cornerstone of his political career.
Likud MK Yuval Steinitz has on numerous occasions cautioned his government against relying on Egypt to assist Israel in creating a region free from Muslim terrorism.
Steinitz, the current chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, has been joined by senior military officials in recognizing Cairo’s policy of perpetuating a situation where the Israelis and “Palestinians” continue to bleed each other, while massing an overwhelming military force aimed at one day conquering the holy land.
In 1948, 1967 and 1973, Egypt together with other Arab nations attempted to eradicate the sovereign Jewish state.
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