MIDDLE EAST
Some of Israel's backers in Congress plan to fight Bush's $400 million plan. Critics in Congress Cite Impact on Israel
By John Lancaster Washington Post November 27, 2001
Page A01 The Bush administration is planning to provide Egypt with highly accurate surface-to-surface missiles -- and four patrol boats from which to fire them -- in a $400 million arms deal. The proposal has alarmed some of Israel's supporters on Capitol Hill, and several are trying to block the transfer. In a classified memorandum sent to Congress on Nov. 2, the administration notified lawmakers it intends to provide Egypt with 53 Harpoon Block II missiles, a satellite-guided weapon described by manufacturer Boeing Co. as "the world's most successful anti-ship missile." The missiles reportedly are accurate to within 30 feet and can be used against shore-based targets. They would be mounted on four "fast missile patrol craft" built by Halter Marine Inc. of Gulfport, Miss.
The United States gives Egypt $1.3 billion in military aid annually -- a legacy of the 1978 Camp David peace accords between Egypt and Israel -- so in that respect the proposed arms transfer is nothing out of the ordinary. But the Harpoon deal is proving more troublesome than most: With Arab-Israeli relations under strain and American Jewish groups accusing Egypt of insufficiently supporting the war on terrorism, some key lawmakers are reluctant to provide the country with sophisticated technology they say could blunt Israel's "qualitative" military edge. Earlier this month, Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to ask him "to provide a rationale for making the sale at this time," accord- ing to Biden's spokesman, Norm Kurz. Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), the ranking Republican on the committee, also expressed concern about the proposed transfer, congressional aides said, as has Rep.
Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee. "A stable and prosperous Egypt is in our interest, while an arms race between Israel and Egypt is not," Lantos said in an interview. "The State Department is sort of following a pattern of escalating the level of arms sales to Egypt, which in turn will mean escalating the number of arms sales and the sophistication to Israel." Spokesmen for the State Department, White House and Pentagon declined to comment on the administration's proposal, citing its classified nature. But a U.S. government official familiar with its details defended the plan, saying the missiles would enhance Egypt's ability to protect the Suez Canal, an important transit point for American commercial and military ships. "They've been a strategic partner with us," the official said. "The administration would not recommend selling a weapons system if they thought it would undermine Israeli security, and we don't think this one does." One point in Egypt's favor is that the 199-foot, diesel-powered Ambassador-class patrol craft that would serve as a platform for the missiles are built in Mississippi, the home state of Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott (R). Lott is a staunch defender of shipping interests there. A source familiar with the proposed transfer said Lott has already "started to weigh in" in favor of the deal. Lott's spokesman, Ron Bonjean, declined to comment. Congress has long accepted the massive U.S. military and economic aid program to Egypt as the price of stability in the Middle East. The program runs at about $2 billion a year and includes about $700 million in economic assistance. T
he purpose of the aid is to reward Egypt not only for becoming the first Arab state to make peace with Israel but also for supporting U.S. efforts to broker a broader Middle East settlement. The aid has transformed the Egyptian military, which has junked much of its outmoded Soviet equipment in favor of F-16 fighter aircraft, M1A1 Abrams tanks, Patriot anti-missile systems and other state-of-the-art American weaponry. Israel has long accepted the arrangement with little public complaint, perhaps because it receives even more U.S. aid. Over the last year, however, Egypt's relations with Capitol Hill have been strained by the outbreak of Palestinian-Israeli violence, the subsequent deterioration in relations between Egypt and the Jewish state, and, most recently, the Sept. 11 attacks. Although Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak promptly condemned the attacks, he initially offered only tepid public support for the American war in Afghanistan and has suggested that Israel deserves most of the blame for regional tensions.
Mubarak has been attacked by Israel's supporters on Capitol Hill and elsewhere for what they see as his failure to curb the anti-Israeli and anti-American venom that pervades much of Egypt's state-dominated media. The Bush administration has continued to support transfers of advanced weaponry to Egypt. Since July, the State Department has notified Congress the administration plans to provide Egypt with 26 Extended Range-Multiple Launch Rocket Systems -- mobile missile batteries -- worth $354 million and kits to assemble 100 M1A1 tanks worth $590 million. The proposed Harpoon transfers have aroused particular concern on Capitol Hill. While Egypt already has an earlier version of the missile, the Harpoon Block II is the latest model. It is equipped with a 500-pound warhead that "delivers lethal firepower against a wide variety of land-based targets, including coastal defense sites, surface-to-air missile sites, exposed aircraft, port-industrial facilities and ships in port," according to Boeing promotional literature. Israel opposes the deal but has decided against doing "anything high-profile" to prevent it, according to an Israeli official in Washington. "In the post-September 11 world, we understand there are larger strategic interests," the official said. "Having said that, if we are asked for our opinion, there are concerns in Israel. In numbers and equipment, we're always outgunned, so all we have in Israel is the qualitative edge." Israel's concern is shared by major
American Jewish groups, including the Zionist Organization of America, which is lobbying members of Congress to block not only the Harpoon deal but all military aid to Cairo, said Morton Klein, the group's president. "Who is [Egypt] planning to go to war against?" he asked yesterday. "The only country we can think of is Israel." That argument has found an especially sympathetic ear in Biden, who declared himself "proud to be a Zionist" during a speech to Klein's organization in Philadelphia on Nov. 4, according to a news release from the group. Nabil Fahmy, Egypt's ambassador to Washington, said, "We are a nation with long maritime borders and significant port facilities, which are used fundamentally for peaceful purposes but which need to be protected." The Harpoons, he added, "will not be used against anybody who does not attack us."
A U.S. government official defended Egypt's record as an ally, describing its cooperation with anti-terrorism efforts as "excellent." Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the official said, Egypt has eagerly shared intelligence, quickly granted permission for U.S. military overflights en route to Central Asia and responded promptly to President Bush's plea for action against terrorist financial networks. Egypt's perceived ambivalence about the Afghanistan campaign, the official said, is a function of Egyptian domestic politics. "They've got a tough problem," the official said. "They are much more cooperative with us than their public wants them to be." Under existing rules, the State Department memo alerting Congress to the proposed Harpoon deal -- classified "confidential" -- triggered a 20-day comment period. If the administration decides to proceed with the deal, it will publicly notify Congress. Lawmakers then would have 30 days to pass a resolution opposing the arms sale, but the president could veto the resolution. Congress therefore would need a two-thirds majority to block a proposed sale or transfer -- a level of opposition that has never been reached, congressional aides said.