Exclusive-US shifts some military aid to Lebanon from Egypt, letter says

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Joe Biden's administration will divert $95 million in military aid allocated for Egypt to Lebanon, which faces threats from Hezbollah and other non-state actors and is enforcing a ceasefire with Israel, according to a document seen by Reuters on Monday.

The State Department notification to Congress of the planned shift calls the Lebanese armed forces "a key partner" in upholding the Nov. 27, 2024, Israel-Lebanon agreement to cease hostilities and to prevent Hezbollah from threatening Israel.

The move comes after some of Biden's fellow Democrats in Congress expressed deep concerns about Egypt's human rights record, particularly the arrests of thousands of political prisoners.

In response to questions about the reprogrammed funding, a State Department spokesperson said the department was still moving forward with foreign military financing for Egypt and said the assessment that Cairo had made progress on political prisoners had not changed.

The Egyptian embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

In September, State said the Biden administration was overriding human rights conditions on military aid to Egypt, granting Cairo its full allocation of $1.3 billion, including $95 million tied specifically to Egypt's progress on the release of political prisoners.

The notification did not spell out that the $95 million was those funds specifically, but a congressional aide said he did not believe the amount was a coincidence.

Egypt has been a vital partner in the Biden administration's efforts to get more aid into Gaza and has helped mediate the so far unsuccessful efforts to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The September decision on the money for Egypt prompted objections from within Congress, including from Democratic Senators Chris Murphy and Chris Coons, both senior members of the Foreign Relations Committee, who released a joint statement decrying the decision.

Murphy said he welcomed the decision to shift the funding to Lebanon. "Our military aid should advance U.S. values and national security interests in the Middle East - not reflexively reward the Egyptian government, despite its failures to meet human rights conditions set by Congress," he said in a statement.

According to the State Department document, the funds would be made available to professionalize the Lebanese Armed Forces, strengthen border security, combat terrorism and address security requirements affected by the shift in power in Syria.

"The United States remains Lebanon’s security partner of choice, and U.S. support to the LAF directly helps secure Lebanon and the wider Levant region," the notification said.

Bolstering Lebanon's army could also help ensure Syria's transition is not disrupted by Iran-backed Shi'ite Islamist group Hezbollah, which previously played a major part in propping up Assad during Syria's civil war.

Under U.S. law, Congress has 15 days to object to a reallocation of military assistance, but a congressional aide familiar with the process commented on Monday that he expected lawmakers would welcome the administration's shift of the funds to Lebanon.

"This is a way to say, 'This funding that Egypt didn't really deserve and doesn't really need, let's reprogram that and put this in a better place,'" the aide told Reuters, requesting anonymity to speak freely.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, additional reporting by Simon Lewis, Editing by Don Durfee, Cynthia Osterman and Daniel Wallis)