WASHINGTON, D.C.: The United States on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) announced it had reached a record $38-billion 10-year military aid deal with Israel, despite increased disagreement over the Middle East peace process.
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Israel’s acting national security advisor Jacob Nagel and US Under Secretary of State Tom Shannon signed the deal at the State Department, bringing to an end months of wrangling over the details of the package.
After months of negotiations that took place after a particularly tense time in the relationship amid disputes over the Iran nuclear deal, the memorandum of understanding was signed by Israel’s national security adviser, Jacob Nagel, and Thomas Shannon, the third-highest ranking U.S. diplomat.
The $38 billion memorandum of understanding covers US fiscal years 2019-2028 and succeeds the current $30 billion MOU signed in 2007, which expires at the end of fiscal 2018.
It obliges Israel to phase out a special arrangement that has allowed Israel to spend part of United States aid on its own defence industry instead of buying American-made weapons.
Additionally, the deal over time reportedly will roll back the approximately 25 per cent of the funds Israel may spend on defense equipment manufactured at home.
The negotiations were conducted despite the acrimonious relationship between United States president Barack Obama and Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, which reached a new low when Mr Netanyahu publicly campaigned against last year’s Iran nuclear deal and addressed a special session of Congress to outline what he perceived as the dangers the deal posed for Israel and the entire Middle East.
Obama’s statement was endorsed by Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, who stated that the deal underlines “the common security interests, shared values and deep historical ties” that have strenghtened the U.S. – Israeli alliance over the past decades.
“The agreement will increase security assistance to Israel from $3.1 billion to $3.8 billion per year”.
This deal is the largest deal which U.S. has ever done with any country.
But the right-wing Netanyahu decided it would be best to forge a new arrangement with Obama, who leaves office in January, rather than hoping for better terms from the next USA administration, according to officials on both sides. Officials have not said if he will meet with Obama. Securing the deal ahead of the US presidential election in November also ensures that Obama’s successor won’t have to delve into the issue during his or her first few months. Instead, all the aid will have to be spent on USA defense contractors who will supply Israel.
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“The agreement will help us continue building our armed forces, improve our missile defense systems”, he added. “The agreement will ensure an unprecedented defense aid package to Israel over the period of a decade”, proclaimed Netanyahu.
