14 December 2004
U.S. Earmarks $5 Billion in Foreign Aid to the Mideast in FY05, December 14, 2004 (Middle East Partnership Initiative to receive $75 million)
By Najwa Saad
Washington File Special Correspondent
Washington -- The U.S. government has allocated more than $5 billion in assistance for countries in the Middle East for fiscal year 2005 (FY05).
Final passage of the assistance package came when the Senate voted 65-30 to approve the Omnibus spending bill on December 6. The budget bill became law with President Bush's signature on December 8. FY05 began October 1, 2004, and ends September 30, 2005.
"Our assistance programs to countries in the Middle East are critical investments for regional security, to develop a level of economic progress and prosperity that can give societies political stability in support of peace," said a State Department official.
Notable in the foreign aid program is funding for the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), launched in December 2002, for which the president requested $150 million for FY 05. The final congressional allocation is $75 million.
The MEPI was implemented specifically to focus targeted assistance to support economic, democracy and civil society programs in countries of the Middle East and North Africa. Special initiatives supporting education and women's empowerment programs are also under way. MEPI is also designed to promote the president's vision of creating a Middle East free trade area by 2013.
While not mandating a spending figure, Congress recommended the study of providing at least $4.5 million of the MEPI funds specifically to targeted scholarship programs for students from countries with "significant Muslim populations at accredited American higher education institutions."
Consistent with previous years, Egypt and Israel will receive the bulk of U.S. aid to the Middle East -- more than $4.4 billion -- as follow-on support for the Camp David accords of 1978 that resulted in a peace treaty between the two countries.
Egypt will receive $1.3 billion in military assistance and $535 million in economic support. A portion of the economic support funds is tied to Egypt's attainment of significant domestic economic reforms, beyond what it achieved in prior years.
Israel will receive $2.22 billion in military assistance and $360 million in economic support. Conditions for the military funding permit Israel to spend up to $580 million to purchase defense items or invest in research domestically, in Israel.
Also approved was an annual allocation of $50 million to fund refugee resettlement from the former Soviet Union and "other countries of distress" to Israel.
Jordan, the second Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel, is to receive $250 million in economic aid and $206 million in military aid.
Consistent with prior years, the administration's budget includes $75 million to support Palestinian programs for the West Bank and Gaza to be administered through the U.S. Agency for International Development Mission office in Tel Aviv.
Lebanon is to receive $35 million, of which $4 million is to be spent on scholarships and general support for educational institutions. Tunisia is to receive $10 million for military support.
