On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) stated that the whole reason America gives vast amounts of military aid is so that “when the chips are down, when a crisis is in our midst, that Egypt will ally with us, will side with us. And right now, we’re having a really hard time getting Egypt to just do the basics of opening up that crossing.” And stated that if Egypt won’t do so, there should be “consequences for our relationship with Egypt in the future.”
Murphy said, “I understand Egypt’s concern, which is that if the crossing is completely opened, you would have a massive flow of refugees into the Sinai, which Egypt can simply not handle. But there is a way to have a limited opening so that Americans can leave and supplies, humanitarian relief, can come in. Egypt is a supposed ally of the United States. In fact, the only country that gets more military aid coming from taxpayers in the United States than Egypt is Israel. They’re the second biggest recipient of U.S. military aid. And so, it is frustrating that it has been so difficult to convince Egypt to open up that crossing for these limited purposes. My hope is that, tomorrow, you will see that crossing opened and you will see Americans coming out, humanitarian aid going in, and we are no longer going to have to be in a negotiation with Egypt over this.”
Host Jen Psaki then asked, “Egypt is obviously a very important partner — on the national security front — of the United States. But, as you mentioned, we give them so much, the United States gives them so much military aid. Should that be part of the discussion if they don’t open up this border crossing?”
Murphy responded, “Well, the idea of this military aid is that it binds Egypt to us. I have been a critic, for years, of the amount of military aid we give to Egypt, and the supporters of it say it’s absolutely necessary in order to make sure that, when the chips are down, when a crisis is in our midst, that Egypt will ally with us, will side with us. And right now, we’re having a really hard time getting Egypt to just do the basics of opening up that crossing. And so, of course, if this continues to be an issue, if we can’t convince the Egyptians to let Americans out and let aid in, of course, that is going to have consequences for our relationship with Egypt in the future.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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