Displaying an unprecedented commitment to the Jewish state, the United States has signed the biggest-ever aid deal in its history worth Dollars 38 billion (Rs 2.53 lakh crore) with Israel under which it will buy advanced planes and weaponry and boost the missile defense shield of Jerusalem.
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He knows full well that one of the main reasons that this aid package was being pushed by the Israeli side is Netanyahu’s concerns about uncertainty of support for Israel from future presidents.
The aid package was the product of months of delicate negotiations between the USA and Israel, and included stipulations that rankled some US lawmakers.
“The agreement will help us continue building our armed forces, improve our missile defense systems”, he added.
“I would like to thank President Obama and his administration for this historic agreement”, the Prime Minister continued.
“The agreement will help solidify and chart a course for the U.S”.
“This doesn’t mean there are not disagreements from time to time, but these are disagreements within the family”, he said.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton welcomed the new security assistance deal as sending a clear message to the region and the world that the U.S.
“This agreement demonstrates a simple truth, the US-Israel relationship strong and powerful”, Netanyahu said. “No other Administration has done more for Israel’s security, and United States commitment to Israel will remain unshakeable”, Rice said.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu and I are confident that the new MOU will make a significant contribution to Israel’s security in what remains a risky neighborhood”, Obama said in a written statement.
The $38 billion memorandum of understanding covers United States fiscal years 2019-2028 and succeeds the current $30 billion MOU signed in 2007, which expires in 2018. The payouts according to deal will begin in year 2019 and U.S. will fund $3.8 billion every year.
Critics have repeatedly slammed Washington over failing to use leverage from the massive military aid to force Israel to halt settlement construction, which successive US administrations have labeled illegal. The letter was written after Congress refused to reduce funding to Obama’s approved levels, drawing sharp rebukes for Obama from many Republicans, including Sen.
The acting head of Israel’s National Security Council, Yaakov Nagel, was in Washington to sign the agreement on behalf of Israel at the State Department on Wednesday.
Obama’s national security adviser Mr Susan Rice witnessed the deal and called it a sign of Washington’s “Unshakable Commitment” to the security of Jewish state. “Numerous people in the USA understand that Israel’s security investment strengthens stability in the Middle East, and it serves not only the our security interests, but also the security interests of the United States”, Netanyahu added.
“This agreement demonstrates the simple truth that the relationship between Israel and the USA is strong and powerful”, Netanyahu said.
What is far more likely, Miller predicted, is a “speech given by the president that would lay out in a detailed fashion America’s views on what constitutes the basis for a two-state solution, probably complete with a road map of steps the Israelis and Palestinians would be obligated to take to create an environment conducive for negotiations”.
“We can’t know what will happen in the next 10 years, but we do know that the United States will always be there for Israel”, she added.
The total includes $33 billion in foreign military financing funds – which is money used to buy materiel and ammunition – as well as $5 billion in missile defense funding.
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The current agreement doesn’t expire until 2018, but negotiations to replace it have been ongoing for almost a year. All together, that entire package came to 34.4b over a decade.
