WarSclerotic

Israel “believes and hopes” that the U.S. decision to cut aid to Egypt will not affect the two countries’ historic peace deal, Homefront Defense Minister Gilad Erdan said Thursday.

Speaking to Army Radio, Erdan said Israel and Egypt have maintained close ties and that there was cooperation and “constant contact” between the two countries.

“I hope this decision by the United States will not have an effect and won’t be interpreted as something that should have an effect,” said Erdan.

Unlike Erdan, other officials in Israel, as well as other regional players, voiced real concern over the U.S. decision. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Israel and other U.S. allies, namely Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, were frustrated with “what they describe as America’s unwillingness to assert itself in the volatile region.”

The report came on the heels of the U.S. State Department announcement Wednesday that the country would withhold deliveries of tanks, fighter aircraft, helicopters and missiles as well as $260 million in cash aid from Egypt’s military-backed government pending progress on democracy and human rights.

The decision demonstrates U.S. unhappiness with Egypt’s path since its army on July 3 ousted President Mohammed Morsi, who emerged from the Muslim Brotherhood to become Egypt’s first democratically elected leader last year.

But the State Department said Wednesday it would not cut off all aid and would continue military support for counterterrorism, counter-proliferation and security in the Sinai Peninsula, which borders U.S. ally Israel.

Meanwhile, a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden car on Thursday into a checkpoint outside a coastal city in Sinai and detonated it, killing three soldiers and a policeman, according to security officials.

The attack outside el-Arish also wounded five people, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The bomber, they said, slowly approached the checkpoint, waited for soldiers and policemen to start searching the car before he blew himself and the vehicle up.

The State Department also said it would continue to provide funding that benefits the Egyptian people in such areas as education, health and the development of the private sector.

According to The Wall Street Journal, however, a high-ranking Israeli official said that cutting aid “can have dismal consequences, way beyond Egypt. It’s a sign to the whole Middle East that America is stepping back and is not interested anymore. It’s going to affect America’s position from Morocco to Saudi Arabia.”

The split decision to cut aid illustrates the U.S. dilemma in Egypt: a desire to promote democracy and human rights along with a need to cooperate with a nation of strategic importance because of its control of the Suez Canal, its 1979 peace treaty with Israel and its status as the most populous nation in the Arab world.

“We will … continue to hold the delivery of certain large-scale military systems and cash assistance to the government pending credible progress toward an inclusive, democratically elected civilian government through free and fair elections,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.

The military-backed authorities have cracked down hard on the Muslim Brotherhood since ousting Morsi. On Aug. 14, security forces smashed two pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo, with hundreds of deaths, and then declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew. Many of the Brotherhood’s leaders have been arrested since.

In the latest violence, protesters clashed with security forces on Sunday, with state media reporting 57 people dead.

Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, said it was doubtful Washington would gain any leverage over Cairo by withholding the aid.

“It may make some Americans feel better about the U.S. role in the world, but it’s hard to imagine how it changes how the Egyptian government behaves,” he said.

Some lawmakers criticized the administration’s decision.

“The administration is trying to have it both ways, by suspending some aid but continuing other aid. … The message is muddled,” said Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee panel that funds such aid.

“Pulling away now may undermine the ability of the United States to work with a critical partner,” said Representative Kay Granger, the Texas Republican who chairs the House Appropriations Committee’s panel on foreign assistance.

The U.S. position also exposed differences with its key Gulf ally Saudi Arabia, which welcomed Morsi’s ouster and has promised extensive financial support to Egypt’s new government.

As if to underscore the divide, the Saudi Embassy in Washington released a statement noting that Saudi King Abdullah had met Egyptian interim President Adly Mansour in Jeddah.

“We will support Egypt against terrorism, sedition, and those who try to undermine its security,” King Abdullah said during the meeting, according to the statement.

On Sept. 24, U.S. President Barack Obama said Washington would keep working with the interim authorities in Cairo, but faulted them for anti-democratic moves such as the emergency law and restrictions on opposition parties, the media and civil society.

Speaking to reporters in a conference call, U.S. officials said the U.S. would withhold deliveries of M1A1 Abrams tank kits made by General Dynamics, F-16 aircraft produced by Lockheed Martin, and Apache helicopters and Harpoon missiles built by Boeing.

The material withheld was worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the officials said, but stressed that its suspension was not meant to be permanent and would be reviewed periodically along with Egypt’s progress on human rights and democracy.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called Egyptian Defense Minister Col. Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to tell him about the U.S. decisions, speaking for about 40 minutes in what one U.S. official described as a friendly conversation.

Hagel stressed the relationship’s importance but underscored the U.S. view that Egypt must move toward democracy.

Officials at Lockheed Martin, Boeing and General Dynamics declined to comment, referring queries to the U.S. government or military offices handling the weapons sales.

For decades, Egypt has been among the largest recipients of U.S. military and economic aid because of its 1979 peace treaty with U.S. ally Israel, which agreed as a result of the pact to withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula it seized from Egypt in 1967.

The U.S. has long provided Egypt with about $1.55 billion in annual aid, including $1.3 billion for the military.