Not only will it feature a significant boost in funding, but it will include changes that bring it more in line with USA military aid packages to other countries.
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Deal will incorporate money for Israeli missile defense.
The deal, the largest such agreement the US has ever had with any country, amounts to $3.8 billion a year beginning in budget year 2019, compared with $3.1 billion the USA gave Israel annually under the current 10-year deal that expires in 2018.
“The U.S.is sending a message to the region that despite all the differences between us and Israel over last few years, none of Israel’s adversaries have a patron willing to commit as much money to their defense as the United States”, said David Makovsky, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank in Washington, D.C.
President Barack Obama’s eight years in office have been marked by friction with Netanyahu, with the two leaders at odds over a US-led nuclear deal with Iran and over mired peace talks with Palestinians.
Mr Nagel hailed the agreement as an indication of the “rock-solid alliance” between Israel and the US.
“It is because of this same commitment to Israel and its long-term security that we will also continue to press for a two-state solution to the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict, despite the deeply troubling trends on the ground that undermine this goal”, Obama said.
Mr Obama’s aides reportedly wanted to agree a new deal before the end of his presidency in January as they see it as an important part of his legacy.
Among those present was US National Security Advisor Dr. Susan Rice, who used the opportunity to inquire into the health of former President Shimon Peres, who suffered a stroke earlier this week.
The US and Israel have agreed on a record $38bn (£29bn) military aid package.
The new provision is a “short-sighted change in policy”, according to leading Republican Lindsey Graham, who has been a staunch pro-Israel lawmaker. But sources close to the deal said it was valued at $38 billion. Mr Netanyahu requested a significant increase to $4.5 billion per year on account of the Iran nuclear agreement, but was forced to settle for $3.8 billion.
The US has included funding for Israeli missile defence programmes in the deal for the first time, pledging an annual sum of $500 million (£380 million). USA lawmakers have in recent years given Israel up to $600 million in annual discretionary funds for this goal. But the wording is likely to be flexible enough to allow exceptions in case of a war or other major crisis.
Israel and the USA signed the terms of a new $38 billion aid package for Israel during a State Department ceremony on Wednesday. Neither side offered details.
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In thanking Obama Wednesday for the aid package, Netanyahu called the disagreement over the Iran deal “disputes you have between family”, an expression both the Americans and Israelis are fond of using to refer to the very public spat. Nagel and US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon will sign the document.
