Egypt–United States Relations

The 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty is a central foundation of the modern relationship, linking American assistance and defense cooperation to the preservation of peace between Egypt and Israel.[2] Egypt was the first Arab country to conclude a peace agreement with Israel, and the treaty has remained in effect despite subsequent regional tensions.[2] Successive American administrations have justified assistance to Egypt as an investment in regional stability, particularly through cooperation with its military and support for maintaining the treaty.[2]

Egypt’s strategic importance also rests on its control of the Suez Canal, the maritime chokepoint connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas, and its diplomatic position in the region.[2] With a population of more than 108 million, Egypt is the most populous Arabic-speaking country.[2] Expedited passage through the canal helps the United States move military assets toward the Persian Gulf and the wider Indian Ocean region, while American overflight access provides another important logistical benefit.[2][3]

The partnership extends beyond military affairs to trade, investment, infrastructure, education, public health, and cultural preservation.[2][4] Economic cooperation also has a regional peace dimension: the Qualified Industrial Zone program gives qualifying Egyptian products duty-free access to the American market when they contain specified proportions of Egyptian and Israeli inputs.[2] Alongside these areas of cooperation, the two governments have maintained dialogue on human rights, justice, law enforcement, and fundamental freedoms.[5]

Nineteenth-century American encounters with Egypt were driven chiefly by travel, archaeology, missionary activity, and occasional commerce rather than sustained diplomatic engagement.[6] American political influence was limited compared with that of established European consulates, and British occupation in 1882 further overshadowed the United States’ role.[6] A formal American consular and quasi-diplomatic presence in Cairo began with Daniel Smith McCauley on March 17, 1849.[1]

The United States recognized Egyptian independence on April 26, 1922, through a letter from President Warren G. Harding to King Ahmed Fuad, delivered by J. Morton Howell.[1] Diplomatic relations were established that day, and Howell’s position was raised to ministerial rank on June 24, creating the American Legation in Egypt.[1] Sustained American diplomatic involvement developed after World War II, when limiting Soviet influence and protecting the Suez Canal became important policy objectives.[6] Washington also had to balance its relationships with Britain and Egypt, while American support for Israel and Egyptian opposition to British imperial influence complicated bilateral relations.[6]

After the Free Officers’ coup in 1952 and the establishment of the republic in 1953, Gamal Abdel Nasser sought Western funding, especially American assistance, for the Aswan High Dam.[6] The United States hesitated to provide the assistance he sought, and frustration over delayed arms and economic support contributed to the circumstances surrounding his nationalization of the Suez Canal Company.[6] The resulting 1956 Suez Crisis became a turning point after which the United States took a more active role in Middle East diplomacy.[6]

Egypt and Syria formed the United Arab Republic in 1958; although Syria left in 1961, Egypt continued to use that official name until 1971.[1] The United Arab Republic severed diplomatic relations with the United States on June 6, 1967, following the June Arab-Israeli war.[1] An American Interests Section opened in the Spanish Embassy in Cairo the following day, preserving a channel of representation during the break in formal relations.[1]

Anwar Sadat’s presidency brought a major shift away from Egypt’s Soviet alliance and toward partnership with the United States.[7] Following the October 1973 war, Washington intervened to secure a partial Israeli withdrawal from Sinai, while Sadat pursued closer American ties and diplomatic alternatives to confrontation with Israel.[8] Henry Kissinger began shuttle diplomacy between Egypt and Israel in January 1974.[9] Full diplomatic relations resumed on February 28, 1974, when the American Embassy in Cairo reopened under Ambassador-designate Hermann F. Eilts.[1]

Hosni Mubarak subsequently continued Sadat’s policy of cultivating American relations and maintaining economic assistance.[6] Egypt supplied troops for the 1990–1991 Gulf War and United Nations peacekeeping missions, and Mubarak sponsored Israeli-Palestinian negotiating summits when American-led talks faltered.[6] After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Egypt gave diplomatic support to the American campaign against Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and the Taliban.[6]

The Strategic Dialogue resumed in Cairo in August 2015 under Secretary of State John Kerry after a hiatus dating to 2009, encompassing the Arab Spring and the political upheavals following Mubarak’s 2011 departure.[10] In July 2022, Presidents Joe Biden and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi marked a century of diplomatic relations and reaffirmed the strategic partnership at a meeting in Jeddah.[11]

Sadat traveled to Jerusalem in November 1977 for peace talks.[12] The trip followed limited progress toward reconvening the Geneva Conference and an announcement on November 9 that he was prepared to go to Jerusalem.[12] Direct Egyptian-Israeli talks followed in December but failed to produce substantive progress, bringing the United States back into a more prominent negotiating role by January 1978.[12]

During the spring and early summer of 1978, American diplomacy sought common ground on withdrawal from Sinai, Gaza, and the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria.[12] Egypt sought withdrawal to the June 4, 1967 borders in exchange for security arrangements and minor border modifications, while Israel rejected that position, particularly concerning the West Bank and Gaza, and proposed Palestinian autonomy during a five-year interim period.[12] The impasse prompted President Jimmy Carter’s direct intervention.[12]

Carter, Sadat, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin met at Camp David from September 5 to 17, 1978.[12] American Middle East specialists prepared a draft that provided a basis for negotiations; when trilateral meetings proved unworkable, Carter and Secretary of State Cyrus Vance met separately with the delegations during the twelve-day summit.[12] The accords signed on September 17 produced two frameworks rather than a final treaty: one for Egyptian-Israeli peace and another addressing Palestinian self-government in Gaza and the West Bank.[12][13]

The bilateral framework called for Egypt and Israel to negotiate a peace treaty within three months and envisaged American participation in discussions of implementation and timetables.[14] It provided for Egyptian sovereignty up to the internationally recognized border, Israeli withdrawal from Sinai, and normal diplomatic, economic, and cultural relations following a treaty and interim withdrawal.[14] The parties undertook not to use or threaten force to settle disputes and to negotiate in good faith.[14] The framework also provided for Israeli ships’ free passage through the Suez Canal and identified the Strait of Tiran and Gulf of Aqaba as international waterways.[14]

Further negotiations encountered disagreements over the duration of an Israeli settlement-construction freeze, withdrawal schedules, and Egypt’s obligations to other Arab states.[12] In March 1979, Carter secured Sadat’s consent to negotiate on Egypt’s behalf and traveled to Israel for three days of intensive talks.[12] Compromises, including an American guarantee of Israel’s oil supply, enabled agreement on treaty text on March 13, followed by Sadat’s assent.[12]

Egypt and Israel signed the peace treaty at the White House on March 26, 1979, completing the Carter-led process that followed Camp David.[12][13] The agreement ended the state of war between the countries and made Egypt the first Arab state to normalize relations with Israel.[13] The Camp David framework had called for full Egyptian sovereignty up to the recognized border, Israeli withdrawal from Sinai, and normal diplomatic, economic, and cultural relations.[14] American military and economic assistance increased significantly after the agreement.[2]

Egypt nevertheless incurred substantial regional political costs: it was excluded from the Arab League from 1979 to 1989, lost financial assistance from other Arab states, and faced diplomatic isolation.[6][7] American economic assistance partly offset those losses while supporting infrastructure and economic reform.[7] Subsequent American-represented negotiations on Palestinian autonomy made little progress, as Palestinian representatives declined to participate and Egyptian and Israeli positions remained far apart on self-government, settlements, and East Jerusalem.[12]

American participation in the Multinational Force and Observers mission in Sinai has helped facilitate Egyptian-Israeli military coordination since 1981.[2] American troops have served in the observation mission, and Congress has annually appropriated Peacekeeping Operations funding for its work.[2] This role connects the bilateral defense partnership directly to the practical maintenance of Egyptian-Israeli peace.[2]

Egypt is a defense partner of United States Central Command, and American officials have encouraged a greater Egyptian contribution to regional security.[2] In June 2025 testimony, acting Assistant Secretary of Defense Katherine Thompson emphasized Egypt’s assistance in expediting American forces through the Suez Canal and the Department of Defense’s interest in a more active Egyptian response to instability around Gaza and the Red Sea.[2] Earlier cooperation also included regular overflight rights and priority canal access for American forces, especially during crises.[3]

Joint training remains another component of the relationship.[2] Egypt hosted the nineteenth iteration of Operation Bright Star in 2025, with 1,500 American soldiers participating alongside forces from 40 other nations.[2] The Texas National Guard maintains a State Partnership Program with Egypt’s military, and Egyptian units have trained with American Special Forces.[2]

In January 2018, the two countries signed the Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement, or CISMOA, governing and protecting the use of sensitive American avionics and communications systems.[15] The agreement enabled Egypt to acquire American-made high-precision GPS-based air-to-ground systems and advanced air-to-air missiles for the first time.[15] It followed years of Egyptian objections to the access that the arrangement would give the United States to Egyptian facilities and communications systems.[15]

Following a review of assistance after 2013, the Obama administration redirected the stated emphasis of military aid away from conventional warfare and toward counterterrorism.[15] Beginning in fiscal year 2018, the designated priorities were counterterrorism, border security, Sinai security, maritime security, and the sustainment of existing weapons systems.[15] The renewed Strategic Dialogue in August 2015 followed delivery of eight F-16 aircraft and accompanied American support for Egypt’s capabilities against terrorist threats, particularly in Sinai.[10]

The Biden and Trump administrations accelerated arms-sale notifications after October 7, 2023.[2] From October 2023 through July 2025, notified Foreign Military Sales cases totaled $12.018 billion, including a $4.69 billion Abrams tank refurbishment package notified in December 2024 and a $4.67 billion National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System package notified in July 2025.[2] These were notified sales cases, not annual aid appropriations or a statement that all equipment had already been delivered.[2] Their combined value would require more than nine years of Foreign Military Financing appropriations at prevailing annual rates.[2]

American bilateral assistance to Egypt has exceeded $90 billion since 1946 in historical, unadjusted dollars, with a substantial increase following the 1979 peace treaty.[2] Military aid finances purchases of weapons systems and services from American defense contractors.[2] For the period beginning in 1978, assistance has included more than $50 billion in military support and $30 billion in economic support.[16]

Annual aid figures should be read by year and category rather than treated as a single interchangeable total. The Jewish Virtual Library’s table lists military assistance at $1.3 billion for each fiscal year from 2018 through 2024. It lists economic assistance of $106.87 million in 2018, $112.5 million in 2019, and $125 million annually from 2020 through 2024, with 2024 identified as a requested figure.[17]

Development programs supported by the United States have helped bring electricity to millions of Egyptians and clean water and sanitation access to more than 25 million people.[4] Public-health outcomes associated with this assistance include polio elimination and a 78 percent reduction in maternal mortality, while agricultural programs have helped raise incomes for more than half a million smallholder farmers.[4] Educational and professional exchanges have included $350 million in scholarships and opportunities for more than 23,000 Egyptian and American students and mid-career professionals.[4] American support for cultural-heritage conservation has totaled $100 million.[4]

Bilateral trade in goods and services reached $11.2 billion in 2025, and Egypt was the leading African export market for American goods and services.[2] American exports include agricultural products, oil and gas, transportation equipment, chemicals, machinery, and computer and electronic products.[16] Goods trade alone had reached $9.1 billion in 2021, then the highest recorded level.[16]

Egypt has participated in the Qualified Industrial Zone program since 2004.[2] Under the arrangement, qualifying Egyptian imports enter the United States duty-free if they include at least 10.5 percent Israeli content and 11.7 percent Egyptian content.[2] The program thus connects access to the American market with production involving both Egyptian and Israeli inputs.[2]

The United States is Egypt’s third-largest foreign investor, behind the United Kingdom and Belgium, with most American investment concentrated in oil and gas.[2] In November 2025, the United States Export-Import Bank approved a $4 billion credit-insurance guarantee to help Egypt secure gas deliveries from the American-based firm Hartree Partners.[2]

At their July 2022 meeting, Biden and Sisi identified expanded trade, private investment, clean energy, and climate technology as economic priorities.[11] They welcomed an American GreenTech Mission and committed to launching a high-level Joint Economic Commission.[11] Addressing food insecurity associated with the war in Ukraine and blocked Black Sea ports, Biden announced $1 billion in new regional food-security assistance, including $50 million for Egypt, alongside support for Egyptian engagement with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.[11]

Egypt worked with American officials to mediate between Israel and Hamas during the Gaza war and played a key role in securing the October 2025 ceasefire.[2] That month, Egypt hosted the Sharm el Sheikh Peace Summit, where President Donald Trump, President Sisi, and other leaders signed a declaration endorsing the ceasefire.[2] Egyptian officials subsequently maintained contacts with Israeli, Hamas, Palestinian Authority, and other foreign officials on matters including the Rafah crossing and Gaza’s future governance.[2]

The November 8–9, 2021 Strategic Dialogue in Washington, led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, addressed a broad regional agenda.[5] Discussions covered Gaza, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, as well as economic and commercial affairs, education, culture, consular matters, justice, law enforcement, defense, and security.[5] The governments called for renewed negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam under African Union auspices and agreed to continue dialogue on human rights and fundamental freedoms.[5]

In July 2022, Biden and Sisi reaffirmed cooperation against terrorism, including through the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, and supported continued American security assistance in consultation with Congress.[11] They expressed the view that a two-state solution was the only viable route to a lasting Israeli-Palestinian resolution.[11] Their joint statement also recognized Egypt’s contribution to consolidating the Yemen truce through commercial flights between Sana’a and Cairo.[11]

Water security formed another component of the discussions.[11] Biden reiterated American support for Egypt’s water security and a diplomatic resolution of the dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, while the leaders called for an agreement governing its filling and operation.[11]

The Egyptian-Israeli treaty established an enduring peace between Israel and the first Arab state to normalize relations with it, while creating a central basis for sustained American engagement with Egypt.[2][13] The relationship combines treaty support, canal access, overflight rights, military coordination, and regional mediation rather than resting on a single field of cooperation.[2][3] In 1997 testimony, strategic alignment, peace with Israel, economic reform, and political liberalization were identified as four foundations of the partnership.[7]

Close governmental cooperation has not necessarily corresponded to favorable Egyptian public opinion toward the United States.[18][19] A face-to-face survey of 1,000 Egyptian adults conducted from March 19 to April 10, 2012, found that 19 percent viewed the United States favorably.[18] Confidence in President Barack Obama stood at 29 percent, while 69 percent lacked confidence in him.[18] On the preferred direction of relations, 35 percent wanted ties to remain about as close as they were, 20 percent wanted closer ties, and 38 percent favored less-close relations.[18] A further 62 percent believed the American response to Egypt’s political situation had neither a positive nor a negative effect.[18]

A second nationwide face-to-face survey of 1,000 adults, conducted from March 3 to 23, 2013, found favorable views of the United States at 16 percent, compared with 27 percent in 2009 and 22 percent in 2008.[19] Only 24 percent considered good relations with Washington very or somewhat important, while 69 percent regarded them as not too important or not at all important.[19] Majorities also believed both American economic and military aid had a mostly negative effect on Egypt.[19] These findings document attitudes during the political transition rather than a measurement of Egyptian opinion in subsequent years.[18][19]

Human rights and democratization have repeatedly generated disagreements between Washington and Cairo.[16] American concerns include reports of torture or cruel treatment, arbitrary detention, restrictions on expression and media, and arrests or prosecutions of journalists.[16] Egypt rejects foreign criticism as illegitimate interference and points to initiatives including a national human-rights strategy, a Presidential Pardon Commission, and a National Dialogue.[16]

The sharpest rupture followed the military’s removal of President Mohamed Morsi on July 3, 2013, after Mubarak’s 2011 resignation and Morsi’s assumption of office on June 30, 2012.[16] The military suspended the constitution and installed an interim president; Morsi’s supporters called the action a coup, while the military defended its subsequent crackdown as a response to a national-security threat.[16] At least 1,150 demonstrators were killed in that crackdown, and Sisi formally assumed the presidency in June 2014.[16] The Obama administration did not determine whether Morsi’s removal constituted a coup, a designation that would have required cutting off annual military aid under the law described at the time.[20]

Following Morsi’s removal, the Obama administration placed executive holds on major weapons deliveries and suspended the transfer of annual military assistance.[15] On March 31, 2015, Obama informed Sisi that the holds would be lifted and assistance renewed; the renewed Strategic Dialogue later followed delivery of eight F-16 aircraft.[10][15]

Congress has conditioned Foreign Military Financing on democracy and human-rights certifications since fiscal year 2012, generally including national-security waivers except in fiscal year 2014.[17] For fiscal year 2021, $300 million of the $1.3 billion allocation was conditioned on steps involving rule of law, freedoms, accountability for security-force abuses, and access for American officials monitoring Sinai.[3] Across fiscal years 2020–2023, $750 million was withheld or reprogrammed; individual announcements included withholding $130 million in 2022 and $85 million in 2023.[16][17]

The 2026 appropriations law provides $1.5 billion in total assistance, including $1.375 billion in military financing, $75 million above the longstanding baseline.[16] It withholds $320 million pending specified human-rights determinations but permits a detailed national-security waiver for purposes including counterterrorism, border security, and nonproliferation.[16] In August 2026, Secretary of State Marco Rubio waived certification requirements for $320 million in fiscal year 2025 financing, citing security needs and Egypt’s helpful role following Operation Epic Fury without explaining that role.[21]

The treaty with Israel also drew regional opposition. Egypt was excluded from the Arab League from 1979 to 1989 and lost financial assistance from other Arab states, while American aid partly offset those losses.[6][7] Formal peace and security cooperation nevertheless coexisted with a relationship widely described as a cold peace.[7] In February 2025, Egypt’s opposition to Trump’s proposed relocation of Palestinians from Gaza, including to Egypt, prompted reporting that aid was in doubt, but that account did not establish a subsequent suspension.[22]