Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 1, Number 1, Fall 2015 | Page 26

Business As Usual: The Egyptian–U.S. Intelligence Relationship
Those capabilities included the United States providing Egypt with unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAV), and both the jet-powered Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical Model
324 Scarab and Developmental Sciences Corporation’s R4E-50 Skyeye UAV systems
which it used on the Libyan and Sudanese borders to monitor and counter any military
movements or weapon smugglings (Nordeen and Nicolle 1996, 330). Egypt also acquired
two EC-130 electronic intelligence/countermeasures aircraft (ELINT/ECM) and four
Beech Guardrail ELINT platforms, which significantly advanced Egypt’s airborne
electronic intelligence capabilities (Nordeen and Nicolle 1996, 330). Egypt’s intelligence
also acquired other surveillance technologies during the 1980s such as video cameras
and enhanced telephone-tapping capabilities.
A number of significant international events specifically concerned with security
interests also occurred during this developing relationship under the rule of Mubarak
that helped shape the relationship between Egypt and the United States: four wars
followed by a peace treaty with Israel (1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, and 1979), two wars in
Afghanistan (1980s and 2001), the 9/11 attacks, two Gulf Wars (1990 and 2003), and the
Arab Spring. The following section of this article will focus on the two countries’ support
to each other.
Israeli Peace Treaty
Starting with Israel, it is important to discuss the Egyptian–Israeli interaction because
it is strongly linked to the Egypt–U.S. intelligence relationship. After years of wars,
from 1948 until the 1970s, and months of negotiations, Egypt and Israel signed the
1979 peace treaty. This followed the 1978 Camp David Accords, which was negotiated by
the United States. The treaty, which made Egypt the first Arab state to recognize Israel,
included mutual recognition, cessation of the state of war, normalization of relations,
and the complete withdrawal by Israel from the Sinai Peninsula. The agreement also
provided for the free passage of Israeli ships through the Suez Canal and the Egyptian
demilitarization of Sinai (Sharp 2014).
It was in 1979, through the help of the treaty, where Egypt under Sadat but later
reinforced by Mubarak, Israel, and the United States began to align security interests.
The two countries realized that working together through mutual support on security
issues could assist in achieving their own internal interests, which was outlined in the
treaty as “Economic and Trade Relations, Cultural Relations, Freedom of Movement,
Cooperation for Development and Good Neighborly Relations, and Transportation and
Telecommunications” (Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt 1979).
As part of the agreement, the United States began to provide economic and
military aid to Egypt, and political backing for its subsequent governments. Additionally,
a significant amount of the military aid from the United States is spent on Egyptian
intelligence services (Sharp 2014, 18).
“U.S. policy makers have routinely justified aid to Egypt as an investment in
regional stability, built primarily on long-running cooperation with the Egyptian
military and on sustaining the March 1979 Egyptian–Israeli peace treaty. Successive U.S.
Administrations have publicly characterized Egypt’s government as generally influencing
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