I know the nay sayers of the world will not take what is printed in the Jerusalenm Post seriously, but It is a serious article.

Keep an open mind and debate the substance of the article if you can without posting other articles ad nausem as it sidetracks the thread.

a photo posted along with the article:



erusalem Post, Israel
America's Excessive Military Aid to Egypt

By Yuval Steinitz

June 24, 2006
Israel - Original Article (English)

The U.S. Congress is now in the process of considering its $21.3 billion 2007 foreign aid package. A significant portion of American foreign aid has traditionally been allocated to Israel and Egypt.

Though the process is well under way, the Senate has yet to weigh in, so it is not too late for members of Congress to ask themselves: Wouldn't it be wiser to direct American support for Egypt away from the military sphere, toward Cairo's domestic needs?

While I'm not about to tell my American colleagues what decisions to take, especially regarding the hard-earned dollars of American taxpayers, I do want to share my concerns about Egyptian military intentions.

And I admit that I was disappointed that the House has reportedly refused to reduce aid to Egypt by $100 million. As matters now stand, Egypt gets some $1.7 billion, including $1.3 in military aid.

FOLLOWING THE 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace, Treaty the U.S. undertook to provide significant military and economic assistance to both signatories. However, 27 years later, Israel and Egypt each face entirely different types of threats. Israel must address severe military challenges from Palestinian and Hezbollah terrorism, as well as conventional and non-conventional threats from our immediate neighbors - not to mention Iran.

For that reason policymakers have already agreed that American assistance to Israel needs to be gradually shifted away from economic and toward military aid.

EGYPT, IN contrast, faces no existential threat from either its neighbors or other regional actors. Unlike Israel, it doesn't even have to contend with serious border incursions. Moreover, Egypt has now achieved decisive military superiority over any other Arab or African nation, thanks to two and a half decades of U.S. efforts to modernize Egypt's forces.

While Egypt is a military powerhouse with no real enemies, the country continues to face severe socioeconomic challenges resulting from a lack of adequate educational and social-welfare infrastructure. This dangerous domestic reality has contributed to the further strengthening of the radical Muslim Brotherhood and other fundamentalist groups that support al-Qaeda and the theology of global jihad.

In short: Egypt's main challenge is social and economic, not military.

Any objective observer has to wonder: Why has an impoverished country like Egypt funneled so much treasure into its military, even though it faces no apparent military threat?

Egypt's relentless military buildup has put me among those Israelis who are beginning to suspect that Cairo might view the Middle East peace process as an opportunity to weaken Israel and tilt the overall balance of power against the Jewish state.

Here are the questions that particularly concern me:

• Why did Egypt vehemently oppose the 1994 Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty?

• With 90% of the weapons smuggled to Palestinian extremist militias arriving from Egypt, why has Cairo seemingly turned a blind eye to this flow?

• Why, after so many protests, is anti-Semitic content still so prevalent in the Egyptian educational system and media?

IT'S IMPOSSIBLE, moreover, to ignore the fact that Egypt's massive military build-up is aimed solely at Israel. Most of the large exercises conducted by the Egyptian army, especially since 1996, seem to simulate war scenarios involving Israel.

More and more of Cairo's military installations and logistical support centers seem to have been shifted to the country's northeast, on both sides of the Suez Canal - meaning closer to Israel.

Supporters of continuing massive U.S. military aid to Egypt claim that authoritarian regimes need state-of-the-art weapons systems as a sign of strength to bolster their position against domestic foes.

But looking at Syria or Libya it would be hard to argue that their long-term survivability has been undermined simply because they possess obsolete Soviet MIGs, and not modern F-16/F-15 aircraft. It would be equally specious to suggest that the regimes in Egypt or Saudi Arabia are genuinely more stable because they are armed to the teeth with the latest American technology.

I understand that members of Congress make budgetary decisions on the basis of what is best for U.S. interests. On that basis, therefore, I would respectfully suggest that Senators concerned with preserving stability in this part of the world help our two countries with their most essential needs. That means providing security assistance to Israel, which faces undeniable, even ominous external military threats; and badly needed economic assistance to Egypt, whose main threats are plainly domestic.

Earmarking most of the monies Egypt receives for civil society would in no way weaken Egypt. But the prospect of immeasurably improving the lives of millions of ordinary Egyptians would make Israelis more secure.

The writer, a Member of the Knesset, served as chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the 16th Knesset.

http://www.watchingamerica.com/jerusalempost000017.shtml

I think it is a bribe. Also it produces a tech/military/industrial class that can maintain a pose to oppose Israel, while maintaining a dictator's control on the majority of anti-Israeli and anti-Mubarak Eygptian population. They are also useful as a "rendering" destination for torture. This is similar to our relationship with Pakistan. 90% of the population in both countries are anti-west and pro-Al Qeada. A very tenious situation especially in Pakistan since they have nukes.

As assumptions are what makes us look like asses I thought I would link to a Wikipedia source...recheck everything before you attack it please? Instead of using partisan opinion maybe a few facts can be interjected into arguments

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International...sraeli_conflict

International law and the Arab-Israeli conflict
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arguments about the applicability of various elements of international law underlie the debate around the Arab-Israeli conflict. This article discusses the basis for these arguments.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 The basis for legal arguments
o 1.1 Criteria for making legal arguments
o 1.2 Monism vs. dualism
* 2 Legal issues related to sovereignty
o 2.1 Origins
o 2.2 Subsequent treaties and resolutions
o 2.3 The legal consequence of subsequent events
* 3 Legal issues related to the wars
o 3.1 Wars between Israel and Arab states
o 3.2 Armed conflict between Israel and Palestinian groups
* 4 Legal issues related to occupation
o 4.1 "Occupied" vs. "Disputed" territories
o 4.2 Jerusalem
o 4.3 Settlement in territories
* 5 Legal issues related to Israeli West Bank barrier
o 5.1 United Nations
o 5.2 Process of the ICJ
o 5.3 Ruling of the ICJ
o 5.4 Reaction to the ICJ
* 6 Legal issues related to refugees
o 6.1 Legal definition of refugee
* 7 Arab-Israeli peace diplomacy and treaties
* 8 External links

The nonpartisan link was also provided by who else....the Jerusalem Post. Aren't truely democratic institutions wonderful?

Historical Background

Numerous final status and peace plans have been advanced to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They are all based on variants of a few ideas that have a venerable history. The plans must address the following issues:

Sovereignty - Each people wants the right to self determination, but some plans deny self determination to one people or the other.

Borders - If there are two states, the land must be apportioned between them and some people will probably need to move. Palestinians demand that all Israeli settlers would leave any separate Palestinian state.

Immigration - Israel has a law of return that allows Jews from all over the world to immigrate to Israel and be granted citizenship automatically. Israel actively seeks Jewish immigration. Palestinian refugees who fled Israeli in 1948 and 1967 want the right to return to their homes in Israel (Right of Return), and Palestinians historically have tried to limit Jewish immigration to Israel and abolish the Law of Return. Many Palestinian refugee families have kept keys to their homes in what is now Israel, even though the homes themselves no longer exist. Return of Palestinian refugees and their descendants, including all those who claim the status of Palestinian refugees, would establish an Arab majority in Israel and would therefore mean the end of Israel as a Jewish state.

Resources - If the states are divided, scarce common resources must be apportioned between them.

Historic Peace Plans

One Jewish State - The Zionists envisioned a single Jewish state that would encompass all of the land from beyond the Jordan river to the sea, as well as Gaza and parts of what is now Lebanon. The single Jewish state plan was abandoned by most Zionists when it became apparent that the Jews could not be a decisive majority in all of Palestine. Today, settlers and right wing Zionists propose various single state solutions that all seek to maintain a Jewish majority in the land, either by expelling Palestinians or by denying or abridging their political rights.

One Arab State - Arab states and Palestinian leaders called for a single Palestinian Arab state in Palestine. This "plan" has been put forward from time to time with different variants. All of them would put an end to Zionism and would not allow free Jewish immigration to Israel. After WW II The Palestinian leader Haj Amin el Husseini, told the British that the Jewish problem in Palestine should be solved in the same was as it had been "solved" by Hitler in Europe (by murdering the Jews). In 1967, on the eve of the 6-day war, Ahmed Shokhairy, then head of the PLO, spoke at UN, giving the Palestinian one-state solution. He explained that "if it will be our privilege to strike the first blow," the PLO would exile from Israel all Zionists who arrived after 1917 and create a "secular democratic state. This secular democratic state became the program of the Palestine Liberation Organization and of the Fateh which sought to "liberate" Palestine from the Zionists by armed struggle. The Hamas and Islamic Jihad prefer an Islamic state, in which Jews and other religious minorities can remain as dhimmis (second class citizens).

Binational State - This idea was advanced by Dr. Yehuda Magnes, President of the Hebrew University and the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber. This state would have Jewish and Arab cantons, similar to the Swiss German and French Cantons. The idea was presented to the Anglo-American commission in 1946, was favored by the Mapam party and by the USSR. However, the idea lost support after the Arab states and Palestinian leadership totally rejected it. The binational state has a few modern proponents, including Meron Benvenisti, Noam Chomsky and Edward Said.

Two State Partition Solution - The British first partitioned Palestine in 1922, cutting off Transjordan from the Palestine mandate of the League of nations, along with the announcement by Winston Churchill that the Mandate called for a Jewish home in Palestine, but not necessarily in all of Palestine. The Peel and Woodhead commissions of 1937 and 1938 recommended a further partition, into a tiny Jewish state and much larger Arab state. The Arabs rejected this solution and the British abandoned it. The UN called for the establishment of two states in UN General Assembly Resolution 181, which became the basis for the establishment of Israel. The Arab countries opposed Resolution 181, and were also not enthusiastic about creating a Palestinian state, preferring to divide the territory of Palestine between them.

Alon Plan - Israeli general and political leader Yigal Alon formulated this plan for partition of the West Bank with part of the land to be returned to Jordan as a solution for the Israeli Palestinian conflict.

Autonomy - Israel PM Menachem Begin proposed that Israel would give autonomy to Palestinians, in the framework of the Israeli - Egyptian peace treaty. The "autonomy" would allow Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza to run their internal affairs, but would give them no rights at all over the land, and no representation as a sovereign state. They could have Jordanian or Egyptian citizenship. A plan consistent with autonomy was submitted by the Israeli government in 1989.

The Barak Offer, Taba talks and Clinton Compromise - During 2000 and early 2001, Israelis and Palestinians negotiated unsuccessfully regarding a final status solution. Though the overall result was a failure, there were many points of agreement. The nature of the settlement and the proposed maps are detailed here and here.

Recent Peace Plans, Final Status Plans and Peace Initiatives

Introduction - Not every plan for a settlement is a peace plan. Some of the recent proposals are expressly designed to subjugate one side or the other and cannot be considered "peace plans." Some of the initiatives are intended to be the basis for a peace plan or a method of arriving at a peace plan, but aren't complete solutions and don't pretend to be. See How many states? and The Emperor's New Peace Plan and "The Two State Solution" for some background. An explanation of most of the different proposals follows.

The Quartet Road map - The Road Map , now endorsed by the UN, is not a final status plan, but a series of steps designed to calm the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, create a provisional Palestinian state and allow for negotiations of a final status agreement. The "road map" calls for a three-phased implementation of U.S. President George W. Bush's June 24, 2002 speech : that would make possible Israel and Palestinians "living side by side in peace and security." However, the roadmap does not specify the final borders of Palestine and Israel or any other other details of the solution.

Arab Peace Initiative The Saudi-initiated plan for a comprehensive peace calls for settlement of the Palestine-Israel conflict and other outstanding disputes, followed by termination of the state of war that has existed between Israel and all Arab countries and recognition of Israel. As part of the Palestinian settlement, the plan calls more or less explicitly for return of the Palestinian refugees to Israel.

Third Party Peace Initiatives:

Geneva Accord - The "Geneva Accord" is a a proposed final status agreement between Israelis and Palestinians s initiated by former justice minister Yossi Beilin and former Palestinian minister of information Yasser Abed Rabbo. Talks on the agreement took place over the past year and were funded, in part, by the Swiss government. Israelis who signed the agreement included Labor MKs Amram Mitzna, Avraham Burg, Yuli Tamir and MK Haim Oron (Meretz), former MK Nehama Ronen; General Giora Inbar, Former Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak and authors Amos Oz and David Grossman.

The agreement provides in great detail for an independent and demilitarized Palestine living alongside Israel. Borders between the states would be based on the 1967 lines with slight modifications, giving Israel the Gush Etzion settlements, Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, the Jewish quarter of the Old City and the settlement of Ma'aleh Edumim. An international religious authority would control central holy sites, with the Temple Mount officially under Palestinian sovereignty and the Western Wall and Jewish Quarter of the Old City under Israeli sovereignty. Israel would decide how many Palestinian refugees would be admitted to Israel. Other refugees would get compensation from international funds and would be accepted either into Palestine the countries in which they are currently residing or other countries.

According to a public opinion poll jointly sponsored by the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston and the International Crisis Group in Washington, DC , 53.3 percent of Israelis polled said they would support such a proposal while 43.9 percent said they would oppose it. On the Palestinian side, 55.6 percent expressed support. Other polls gave the proposals about 30 percent support in Israel, but it is not clear that respondents understood the plan.

The complete text of the accord is here. Unofficial maps of the accord are here. The Geneva accord is similar to earlier plans put forward by Gush Shalom and Peace Now.

Ayalon-Nusseibeh Plan (Peoples' Voice) - The Peoples' Voice initiative was launched in June by former Shin Bet head Ami Ayalon and Sari Nusseibeh, the former PLO representative in Jerusalem. The initiative is based on a six-point Statement of Principles, calling for a demilitarized Palestinian state; an open Jerusalem; compensation for Palestinian refugees and explicitly relinquishing the Palestinian claim for the right of Palestinian Refugees to return to Israel ("Right of Return"). . More information is at the Peoples' Voice website.

One Voice - One Voice is a grassroots peace initiative that seeks to find common ground between the "silent majority" of Israelis and Palestinians. One Voice has about 100,000 signatures on a petition empowering a panel of experts to propose a solution, and will soon present a detailed set of principles, or "pillars" on which people will be able to vote through the Web using facilities to be donated, as well as through other means. statement of principles, and is working on a says it has managed to "achieve consensus on 20 Pillars that may form the basis for Palestinian-Israeli conflict resolution." The "pillars," which are still confidential, "are the beginning of a process to achieve historic grassroots consensus for conflict resolution," according to the One Voice website. More information can be found on the One Voice website

Plans of Israeli Political Factions

Ya'ad Plan - Ya'ad is a new political party formed of Meretz and Yossi Beilin's Shahar movement, that will adopt the Geneva Accord as its plan for a solution of the conflict.

Israel Communist Party - Calls for evacuation of the Occupied territories to the June 4, 1967 lines, and right of return for Palestinian refugees.

Shinui Party peace plan - The center Shinui Party's peace plan calls for Israel to renew the peace process with the Abu Ala government with the intention of reaching an arrangement in accordance with the "road map." The Shinui plan calls for the declaration of an unlimited cease-fire, with the Palestinian Authority making every effort to end terror, Israel will stop all targeted killing, except against terrorists who continue to initiate and carry out acts of terror. If the cease-fire holds, Israel would replace the settlers in the Gaza Netzarim settlement with soldiers, and eventually evacuate them.

Labor Party peace platform - The opposition Labor Party's plan is based on a return to the June 4, 1967 borders "with slight revisions due to security reasons and around blocs of Jewish settlements." Similar to the Geneva Accord, condemned by Labor politicians, Jerusalem would be divided into Israeli and Palestinian capitals, and partitioned according into Jewish and Arab parts based on current population. Palestinians would give up right of return. All "illegal" outposts are to be dismantled immediately according to the Labor plan.

The Sharon and Olmert Plans - Israeli PM Ariel Sharon and Deputy PM Ehud Olmert, former mayor of Jerusalem, have laid out broad hints about a plan or plans for unilateral steps that would be taken soon if no agreement with Palestinians is possible and there was no progress in implementing the road map. These plans would almost certainly include evacuation of the small Israeli settlements in Gaza including Netzarim and scattered settlements in the West Bank. The plan area that would be defended by Israel would probably correspond with the current fence. More about the Sharon Plan. More about the Olmert Plan

Zionist Extremist Plans

Yesha Council plan - The Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip and Likud Party extremists are preparing an alternative to Sharon's unilateral plan. The Yesha plan would extend Israeli sovereignty to all of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. No independent Palestinian state would be created west of the Jordan River. Instead, Israel and the territories would be partitioned into cantons, with two cantons created for the Palestinians - one in the Gaza Strip and one in Judea and Samaria. Some settlers consider that this plan is a betrayal of their cause as well.

The Elon Plan - Tourism Minister Benny Elon (National Union) is a follower of the late Rehavam Ze'evi.. He believes in transferring Palestinians out of Israel and declaring Israeli sovereignty over the entire West Bank. Jordan would be recognized as the Palestinian state. Elon doesn't explain how countries would be induced to recognize Jordan as the Palestinian state. More details can be found on the Elon Peace Plan website.

Moshe Feiglin's Plan - Feiglin is a far-right Likud Activist. His 'plan' calls for full Israeli sovereignty over the whole of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and the expulsion of Arabs who object. Other Arabs will be encouraged to immigrate, but those who "demonstrate their loyalty to the Jewish State's hospitality and accept the Jewish People's sovereignty over the Jewish People's land will be granted legal residency and issued a legal resident's identification card... [T]hey will have no political right to vote for the Knesset, or any national rights.

Palestinian Extremists

Hamas - The Hamas continues to call for an Islamic Republic in all of Palestine. Jews would be able to live in that republic as second class "dhimmi" citizens. Sheikh Yassin said recently that Jews could have their own state in Europe.

Secular Democratic State - Left wing Palestinian extremist groups still favor the Secular democratic or secular Marxist state of the PLO. Jews would be allowed to live in Palestine following return of the Palestinian refugees, but no further Zionist immigration would be allowed. Jews would have equal rights as citizens, but would constitute a minority in a majority Palestinian State.

Al Awda - The Al-Awda group was founded expressly to block a final settlement that does not allow return of Palestinian refugees to Israel. Their plan insists that refugees will return to Israel, though not necessarily to the homes they abandoned in 1948, as these do not exist for the most part.

More "stuff" linked from a pro Israeli site. I have yet to find a pro Arab/Palestinian site that is this open. I am sure they are out there. Can I get some assistance?

http://www.mideastweb.org/nutshell.htm

Palestinian Terror

Almost all Palestinian groups were founded with the declared aim of destroying Israel by violence, and had a history of terrorist activities. Only the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) has renounced this aim officially. In 1993, the PLO signed the Oslo Declaration of Principles, renouncing violence and agreeing to honor UN SC Resolution 242, which implicitly recognizes the right of Israel to exist. In return, Israel allowed the PLO to enter the West Bank and Gaza strip, and Palestinians gained autonomous control of most of the population of these areas. Extremist Palestinian groups that objected to the agreements began a campaign of ambushes and suicide bombings against Israel. The Palestine National Authority claimed they could not control the dissident groups. Final status negotiations faltered in September 2000. Ariel Sharon visited the Temple mount (Haram as Sharif), which includes the Al-Aqsa mosque on September 28, though he did not enter either of the mosques.. This ignited violent riots, that were met with lethal force by the IDF. The violence became generalized "resistance," called "the Intifadeh," and involving large sectors of the population as well as the Palestine National Authority itself, and the Palestinian police force set up by the Oslo agreements. Polls indicate that about half the Palestinians believe that the aim of the Intifadeh is to destroy Israel. Since September 28, 2000, Palestinians have killed over a thousand Israelis in terror and suicide attacks. Israelis have killed over 3,500 Palestinians in "defense" operations and reprisals, including many civilians. The Intifadeh destroyed the belief of many Israelis in the possibility of peace, and destroyed the credibility of Yasser Arafat and the PLO as peace partners. Israeli retaliation and repression further embittered the Palestinians. More about the peace process Detailed Timeline FATAH Constitution PLO Charter Hamas Charter

Rescuing a terror victim

IDF soldier and grieving Palestinians in Jenin - Operation Defensive Wall





Israeli Repression

Israel responded to Palestinian violence at the beginning of the Oslo process by limiting the flow of Palestinian workers to Israel to prevent infiltration of terrorists, and by strict checks at border checkpoints. The border closing drastically reduced the Palestinian standard of living. Palestinians who did come to work were often subjected to humiliating searches and very long waits at checkpoints. Following terror attacks at the checkpoints, nervous IDF (Israel Defense Forces - the Israeli Army) soldiers sometimes were too quick to open fire on suspicious vehicles, killing innocent civilians. Checkpoints around Jerusalem made it difficult for Palestinians to get to work in Jerusalem and to travel between Palestinian towns.

After September 2000, Israeli reprisals for Palestinian terror raids became increasingly severe, including assassinations of wanted terrorists that Palestinians refused to arrest. Following a series of deadly suicide bombings in March of 2002, Israel launched operation Defensive Wall in the West Bank and has since reoccupied most of the territories ceded to to the Palestinians in the West Bank. The IDF set up additional checkpoints and has kept towns under virtual siege with extended periods of curfew, disrupting work, education and daily life. Ditches surround towns, preventing people from leaving. The IDF has killed over 3,500 Palestinians, demolished houses and uprooted olive groves. After a recent IDF study showed that the demolitions do not deter suicide bombings, demolitions of the houses of suicide bombers were discontinued, but houses are still demolished for other reasons.

In addition to measures taken to ensure security, Israeli extremist settlers have harassed Palestinians, destroyed property, uprooted olive trees and killed several Palestinians in doubtful circumstances. The perpetrators are rarely identified and almost never prosecuted.

More about the peace process. Detailed Timeline