Israel to Lobby US, Europe to Keep Backing Egypt Junta

Insists 'Stability' Trumps Human Rights

While the Obama Administration is on the bandwagon of whoever happens to be in power in Egypt at any given time, Israel has made no bones about supporting last month’s coup, and has eagerly backed the new junta in its crackdowns on the Sinai Peninsula, even launching an unprecedented drone strike on Egyptian soil.

Now as the massacres grow and the international community is turning against the junta, officials say that Israel is willing to throw its not-insignificant weight behind keeping nations on the side of military rule.

Officials say they will argue that keeping Egypt “stable” is worth any cost, and that democracy and human rights are minor concerns that need to take a back seat. It’s an argument Israeli diplomats seem exceedingly comfortable in making.

With the EU, which is planning urgent reviews of its Egypt ties Monday, that’s going to be a tough sell, and doubly so if the argument is that daily massacres is a “stable” Egypt worth backing.

The bigger impact may be on the US, where a growing number of senators are behind withdrawing military aid for the junta. Israel’s lobbies still hold enormous sway in the US, and the news that Israel is pro-junta, or pro-massacre, or what have you is bound to put a lot of pressure on the Senate to keep the aid flowing as an expression of their pro-Israelness.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.