Posted on 06/20/2016 11:52:21 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Yes that was the deal. Carter brought Egypt into the US Sphere and pulled them away from the Soviets. We promised them $1B+ in military aid every year as compensation for giving up Soviet patronage (tanks, planes, arms etc). We promised Israel they would get a qualitative advantage and more aid than Egypt received for several reasons including we did not want to appear to be taking sides with Egypt by funding their future wars with Israel so we provided Israel with more cash. (mostly in the form of military purchase credits). Israel still had to contend with armies from other countries as well. Plus we asked Israel to return the Sinai peninsula to Egypt which contained a fair number of oil and gas rigs so in a way some of the aid compensates for that economic loss as well.
I think Israel might be better off rejecting the aid at some point soon. They would need to develop stronger ties with other countries like India, to replace US industrial capacity. If they choose to build their own fighter planes for example they need a way to fund it and sell it outside their own use to make it profitable. Israel discovered a massive amount of natural gas off the shores and is developing them now. First goes online soon, to supply their own country. The next goes online about a year later to feed gas to Europe. It goes through Turkey. Its a strong geopolitical play for them and will provide a huge economic boost far surpassing the aid we give them. Turkey has to cool its rhetoric now that it has Israel as a partner. Europe is very keen to get another supplier as they are almost 100% dependent on Russia for gas. And while it hurts Russian gas exports on the one hand, it creates a need for closer cooperation between Israel and Russia. Saudis desperately want to run a gas pipe to Europe and in this area Israel and Russia can work to try to delay or stop the plans since Saudi needs to run the pipe through many countries, some unstable ones, and in an ironic twist the Saudi plans are much more vulnerable to sabotage by the very terrorist groups that rich Saudi nationals subsidize.
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Good idea, economic development could be a positive. Were it not for their government. Hamas will never go for it anyway.
Carter just added to what Nixon (and later Ford) and Kissinger did from 1973-76.
Donny and Ivanka Trump should build it.
I don’t know that we gave military aid to Egypt prior to Camp David. Between 1974 and 1979 the defrosting of the US-Egyptian relationship did begin to turn Egypt away from the Soviets, particularly Nixon’s (and Kissinger’s) arrangement to help them boot Soviet troops and “advisors”, and later to re-open the Suez canal. But whether and how much aid we gave Egypt before 1979 I am not sure was very significant. Before the 6-Day war we didn’t give much to Israel either. But you are right in principle, it was a long process.
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