Israel is trying to persuade the United States to approve the sale of advanced F-15s to Egypt

As part of Israel's efforts to improve relations between Cairo and Washington, Israel is working to approve the US aircraft deal with Egypt.

Defense officials told White House officials: "It is better for the Egyptian military to be equipped with US weapons and not with weapons from Russia and China."

Lightning Ravid

24/03/2022

Thursday, 24 March 2022, 12:35 Updated: 12:43

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In the video: Prime Minister Bennett meets with Egyptian President al-Sisi (Photo: GPO)

Israel has been working in recent weeks to persuade the Biden administration to sign a deal to sell advanced F-15s to Egypt, Walla!

Two senior members of the defense establishment.

The Israeli lobbying efforts are a testament to the depth of the security relationship between Israel and Egypt in recent years and to the Israelis' attempts to improve relations between Cairo and Washington.

In the past year, Democrats and Republicans have been urging the Biden administration to condition military aid on Egypt on improving the country's human rights record.

At the same time, other members of Congress are careful to make sure that in any arms deal with an Arab country, the administration will make it clear that this does not harm the IDF's qualitative advantage in the region.

Last week, the outgoing commander of the U.S. Army Central Command, General Frank Mackenzie, said at a hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee that the administration plans to approve the sale of the advanced F-15s to Egypt.

He added that the deal has been under discussion for a long time.

More on Walla!

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Bennett and al-Sisi, September (Photo: Government Press Office, Kobi Gideon)

Defense officials said the F-15 deal went up last year, when Egypt began re-examining another deal it signed with Russia in 2018 to purchase advanced Su-35 fighter jets.

The Trump administration has threatened Egypt that it will impose sanctions on it if it completes the deal with the Russians.

The Egyptians then claimed that they had turned to the Russians because the United States was not willing to sell them advanced fighter jets.

The Egyptians began re-examining the deal many months ago, amid Russia's difficulties in producing the planes because of the international sanctions imposed on it.

The new sanctions imposed on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine only increased doubts in Egypt about the aircraft deal with Russia and strengthened the desire to promote an alternative deal with the United States.

Defense officials who have visited Washington in recent weeks have told senior White House, Department of Defense and Washington State officials that they support the F-15 deal with Egypt.

Senior Israeli officials said it was better for both the United States and Israel that the Egyptian army be equipped with American weapons systems rather than weapons systems from Russia and China.

A senior defense official told Walla!

Because Israel has long been concerned about the tensions in relations between the United States and Egypt and believes that strengthening and improving relations between these two countries is in Israel's interest.

American F-15 aircraft (Photo: Official website, Ministry of Defense)

Following the signing of the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, the United States began providing military assistance to Egypt, which reached about $ 1.3 billion a year.

Most of the aid is used to purchase weapons from the United States.

Egypt has become the second largest country in terms of military aid from the United States, after Israel.

Following the military coup in Egypt and the removal of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013, the Obama administration halted several arms deals with Egypt.

Since then, there has been a decline in the volume of arms deals between Egypt and the United States, and the Egyptian military has moved to purchase a large portion of its weapons from Russia.

Last January, US Secretary of State Tony Blinkan announced that he was continuing to freeze $ 130 million from US military aid to Egypt, after Egypt did not address US complaints about the human rights situation in Egypt.

A White House National Security Council spokesman said the Biden administration was holding regular consultations with Egypt on its security needs.

He said US military aid to Egypt is an important part of the strategic partnership between the two countries and is helping Egypt maintain stability in the Middle East.

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• F-15