The United States and Israel have signed a new aid deal that will give the Israeli military $38 billion over the course of 10 years.
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The agreement, which goes into effect in 2019, represents a 20% increase from the previous US aid agreement of $3.1 billion annually.
Israel and the U.S. signed the terms of a new $38 billion aid package for Israel during a State Department ceremony on Wednesday.
USA and Israeli diplomats announced the largest military assistance package in U.S. history on 14 September in a $38 billion, 10-year package that will deliver an assortment of American-designed weapon systems, including Lockheed Martin F-35 and Boeing F-15 fighters to Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu didn’t get everything he wanted in the military deal: He had to agree that Israel wouldn’t lobby Congress for additional missile defense funds, as well as allowing the phasing out of an agreement that had allowed Israel to prioritize its own defense industry when spending the aid money, rather than buying from American companies.
Israel, Nagel said, has committed itself not to ask Congress for additional funds for missile defense.
During the nine months of intense negotiations that led to the conclusion of the military aid agreement, Netanyahu’s aides were concerned that completing the deal might embolden Obama to go ahead with such a move, which the prime minister strongly opposes.
“This commitment to Israel’ s security has been unwavering and is based on a genuine and abiding concern for the welfare of the Israeli people and the future of the State of Israel”, Obama added. US National Security Advisor Susan Rice said at the signing ceremony in Washington that “We affirm today the unbreakable bond between the United States and Israel” and that “the US will always be there for the state of Israel and the Israeli people”.
“I find it odd the MOU only allocates $500 million for missile defense starting in 2018 while Congress has recommended $600 million for missile defense this year”, he continued. So the new yearly amount, $3.8 billion, does not represent an increase overall, said Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, non-profit, non-partisan policy institute that focuses on worldwide terrorism. America’s military assistance to Israel has amounted to $124.3 billion since it began in 1962, according to a recent congressional report.
While Israeli officials would not comment this week on the MOU’s effect on discussions for a STOVL variant or a renewed V-22 purchase, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at the need for a vertical takeoff aircraft in July.
That doesn’t mean Graham has given up, however, and he’s insisted Congress isn’t bound by this new deal, and free to give Israel all the extra billions they feel like.
U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., who chairs the subcommittee, was joined by her colleague U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, in launching the resolution back in May.
The United States sealed a new collaboration deal with the Israel army, worth $38 billion dollars.
“Whenever the situation improves for Israel, American aid increases”.
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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.
