MENA Week in Review - June 6, 2014 Share This /

This week, the Senate released it version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Defense Appropriations bill, while it was reported that the 10 Apache helicopters the Obama administration announced they would release to Egypt was still in storage in the United States and policy analysts encouraged President Obama to restructure the U.S. assistance package to Egypt to focus more on the people of Egypt and reduce military assistance to essential levels.

• Ten Apache helicopters that the Obama administration announced in April would be released to Egypt for abiding by the peace treaty with Israel are still being held in storage in the U.S. The delay of the helicopter delivery, in addition to millions of dollars of 2014 security assistance funding, was placed on hold by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) shortly after the release of the helicopters was announced.
• The Senate released its version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Defense Appropriations bill. In the new bill, the Senate looks to permanently codify the “Leahy law” instead of leaving it as a renewable line-item that is open for review and adjustment on an annual basis.
• U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the U.S. government would provide an additional $290 million in humanitarian aid to the Syrian crisis during a visit to Beirut earlier this week.  This comes a week after President Obama announced increasing support to Syria’s neighbors, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq, who have taken in millions of refugees over the course of the three-year-old war.
• The Working Group on Egypt sent an open letter to President Obama asking for him to not only continue the suspension of military aid, but also restructure aid to more directly support the Egyptian people. The letter was followed up by one of the signees of the letter, Michelle Dunne publishing a policy brief calling for the Obama administration to maintain only essential security and counterterrorism cooperation and develop a joint policy strategy with Europe to support human development and inclusive economic growth, among other suggestions.
• On Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the U.S. government would continue to work with the new Palestinian unity government including continuing to supply the $440 million in aid to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Some members of Congress were less than pleased with the administration’s decision. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Rep. Ted Deutsch (D-FL) all expressed concern over the administration’s decision.
• Moner Mohammad Abusalha, the American behind a recent suicide bombing in Syria, has raised concerns that Americans fighting in the Syrian Civil War and who return to the United States might pose a threat to national security.
• The situation in Libya continues to deteriorate as dozens have been killed or wounded in clashes between Islamic militants, the Libyan army, and forces loyal to former general Khalifa Haftar.  Earlier this week, former general Haftar’s residence was the target of a suicide attack, which he survived.
• Yemen’s military announced that over 500 militants have been killed since the military launched an offensive in the south in April.