Here is an article I googled from the "Forward." Looks like my guess of one billion for Arms was right on.
Nadler, ADL Urge Bush To Curtail Egypt's Aid
Protesting 'Protocols'
By MARC PERELMAN
FORWARD STAFF November 2002
Infuriated by the scheduled broadcast of a reportedly antisemitic miniseries on Egyptian television, the Anti-Defamation League and Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York are urging the Bush administration to withhold American aid to Egypt until it takes action against antisemitic incitement in the state-controlled media.
Even so, most Jewish groups, while expressing outrage at the airing of the 40-part miniseries based in part on the infamous antisemitic forgery "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," oppose using the aid as leverage. And a letter of protest to Egypt signed by 46 members of the House of Representatives made no mention of American aid.
"Egypt pretends to be the leader of the Arab world; it is the Arab country that receives the most American aid, and it has this title of moderate friend. That's fine with me as long as they don't become the leader of antisemitism in the Arab world," said Abraham Foxman, national director of the ADL. "I believe there needs to be consequences."
Apparently no Jewish communal or American official has seen the series, which is slated to begin broadcasting Wednesday. The
public controversy was prompted by a front-page story on the miniseries published two weeks ago in The New York Times.
The ensuing uproar has put Cairo on the defensive and Washington in the uncomfortable position of criticizing one of its key Arab allies at a time when it is pushing for military action against Iraq and playing a minimal role in solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The ADL has renewed a proposal it made a year ago calling for the freezing of part of the $1.7 billion in annual American aid to Egypt. The ADL is proposing to put $100 million, or 5%, of the aid into an escrow account and conditioning its release on action by the Egyptian government. Egypt is the largest recipient of American aid after Israel, which receives some $3 billion a year.
"We believe there will be more interest now, and we'll be talking to Congress when they reconvene," said the ADL's Washington director, Jess Hordes.
Hordes said, however, that the ADL was not in favor of a more drastic proposal by Nadler to cut all military aid. Out of the $1.7 billion aid package, some $1 billion is military aid, according to Egyptian officials.
Nadler wrote in a letter to colleagues last week that he would offer an amendment to the foreign aid budget cutting all military funds to Egypt until "they have begun the road to peace with, and understanding of, other nations, cultures and religions." But other Jewish groups disagreed with both proposals.
A spokesman for the American Jewish Committee, Ken Bandler, and the president of the American Jewish Congress, Jack Rosen, said that pressuring Egypt and the administration was preferable to cutting or freezing the aid.
"This is a sensitive period right now, and with the Iraq situation the administration needs the support of Egypt, so eliminating the aid is not something we favor," Rosen said.
Calls seeking comments to the State Department went unreturned.
An AIPAC spokeswoman, Rebecca Needler, said that Egypt's behavior was "very questionable." She declined to say what action AIPAC would recommend. The lobby favors providing aid to countries that have signed a peace treaty with Israel. Egypt signed such a treaty in 1979.
Last week, during a conference call of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Jewish groups agreed to stage a demonstration that would focus on the issue of antisemitism rather than on aid, according to Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice-chairman of the conference.
On Monday, AJCommittee and several local federations staged a small rally to protest the miniseries in front of the Egyptian embassy in Washington. Hoenlein said the Presidents Conference had no official position on the question of aid.
Also Monday, 46 members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, urging him "take a leadership role in rejecting the show's demonization of Jews and take immediate action before the series airs." The letter did not specify any actions that might be taken if Egypt did not comply.
The television program, "Horseman Without a Horse," is to be broadcast nightly starting this week on Dream TV, a private satellite channel, and on state-run Channel 2.
A spokesman for the Egyptian embassy in Washington, Hesham el-Nakid, told the Forward that "prejudging a work of art without seeing it is simply an immature attitude and a kind of emotional terrorism."
"There is no grain of truth in the claims that the series are spreading antisemitism," he added. "It is a fiction drama that is not based on the Protocols but on the history of Zionism. So I don't see how some people can advocate cutting aid to Egypt before even seeing it."
He said the government had no control over private production companies and television programming, a contention dismissed by most observers.
The ADL's Hordes said he discussed the issue of the miniseries three weeks ago with Egypt's ambassador to Washington, Nabil Fahmy. After getting a "very disappointing response," he then brought it to the attention of a deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, David Satterfield, and the American ambassador to Cairo, David Welch.
Welch then requested a meeting with Egypt's information minister, Safwat el-Shefit, in which he asked him to review the miniseries and make sure that antisemitic rhetoric was removed. The minister reportedly told Welch that the authorities had reviewed the series and that it was not antisemitic with the possible exception of one episode, according to Hordes, who was briefed by Welch.
Foxman and Hordes met with Secretary of State Colin Powell October 28. Powell told them "they were working on it and making progress," according to Hordes.
El-Nakid, the Egyptian official, said American officials had not asked Egypt not to air the series, requesting only that the content be checked.
On Friday, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, "Egyptian officials say they have reviewed the mini-series to ensure the absence of antisemitic material.... We are following this issue closely and will continue to remain engaged with Egyptian officials."
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