The document will officially be signed tomorrow afternoon at the US State Department.
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The deal comes despite mounting frustration within President Barack Obama’s administration over Israel’s policy of building settler homes on the occupied Palestinian territories.
“This agreement will ensure an unprecedented security assistance to Israel over the next decade”, Netanyahu said in a Hebrew video address about an hour before the scheduled signing ceremony in Washington.
Rice said it is a reminder of the US’ unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security. Regional unrest in Syria and Iraq deepened Israeli concerns. They have not disclosed the exact sum, but officials familiar with the deal said it totals $3.8bn a year.
A foreign policy hawk and fierce defender of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Graham also is chairman of the Senate State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee.
Relations between Netanyahu and Obama have been frosty, but both leaders have had an interest in putting aside their disagreements and reaching a deal.
Talks over the deal – which will come into effect in 2019 – had previously faltered over these issues, as well as disagreements about the size of the aid package.
And there is symbolic value as well in having a Democrat ink this deal with Israel, Makovsky said. The deal will be signed on September 14. The State Department said it strongly disagreed with Netanyahu’s characterization, calling the reference to ethnic cleansing “inappropriate and unhelpful”. It would be the biggest pledge of USA military support made to any country – up from around $30 billion under the current military aid agreement, which expires at the end of 2018.
“Congress is not a party to this agreement nor is this agreement binding on future congresses”, Sen.
Israeli officials have said predictability about U.S. aid is crucial to help its military to plan for the future. Instead, the money must be spent on equipment manufactured by the USA defence industry.
And unlike previous deals, the arrangement will also see the phasing out of a clause which allowed Israel to spend part of its United States aid on its own defence industry, instead of on weapons made in America.
Missile defence The new package will incorporate, for the first time, money for missile defence projects which hitherto have been drawn from funds directly from Congress – American legislators had transferred up to $600 million for Israeli missile defence projects over recent years.
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The new agreement eliminates Israel’s ability to spend a fraction of the funds on fuel for its military.
