The agreement, signed on Wednesday at the state department in Washington, will go into effect upon the expiration of the current package in 2018.
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Deal will incorporate money for Israeli missile defense.
While support for Israel has always been a bipartisan issue in Washington, Netanyahu doubted Obama’s “unshakeable commitment” when the US agreed a year ago to a nuclear deal with Iran which the Israeli prime minister opposed.
At one point Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu controversially indicated he might wait for the next USA president before striking a deal. In another apparent concession, Israel has agreed not to ask Congress to approve more funds than are included in the deal unless a new war breaks out, according to USA officials. Not only is the US providing military aid, but this pact represents the largest pledge of USA military aid in USA history. The deal also bars the Israeli military from spending funds on fuel, and prohibits Israeli diplomats from lobbying Congress for additional funds during peacetime.
The $38 billion memorandum of understanding covers U.S. fiscal years 2019-2028 and succeeds the current $30 billion MOU signed in 2007, which expires in 2018.
Obama said the 10-year, $38 billion agreement – the most generous of its kind ever – would “make a significant contribution to Israel’s security in what remains a unsafe neighborhood”.
The 10-year deal was signed as planned by Israel’s national security advisor and a senior United States diplomat on Wednesday.
The Conference of Presidents’ Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Malcolm Hoenlein added that the agreement between the United States and Israel “sends an important message to the entire region of the Middle East of the enduring strength of the U.S. – Israel special relationship”.
“This memorandum of understanding constitutes the single largest pledge of bilateral military assistance in USA history”, said the State Department in its announcement of the agreement.
Relations between the two leaders were already chilly, not helped along by Obama’s public calls for Netanyahu to stop settlement building in the West Bank, which the US considers to be counterproductive to a two-state solution.
Washington added a new provision to the deal that requires all of the funds to be spent on American military industries which was one of the sticking points of the negotiations because Israel wanted to spend some of the money internally on Israeli military technology.
Following the ceremony, President Obama said that the aid will “make a significant contribution to Israel’s security in what remains a unsafe neighborhood”.
“After regular engagement with the Administration and Israeli government on this issue, I am pleased that an agreement has been reached to provide Israel with an unprecedented level of USA military assistance in a consistent manner over the next decade”, the statement read.
The country is “the largest cumulative recipient of USA foreign assistance since World War II”, according to a USA congressional research report from June 2015. Part of the annual $3.8 billion in assistance, $500 million, will support Israeli missile defense.
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“As Israel continues to face the threat of rocket fire, this funding will help Israel to further strengthen missile defence systems like Iron Dome”, she said.
