“We are prepared to make an unprecedented multi-year missile defense commitment as part of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Israel on military assistance”, one senior White House official said.
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“This commitment, which would amount to billions of dollars over 10 years, would be the first long-term pledge on missile defence support to Israel, affording Israel robust support for its missile defence, as well as predictability and facilitating long-term planning”.
“Not only will the security assistance for missile defense not be cut, it will be increased”, it said.
The White House wants to put the annual missile defense funding for Israel in the decade-long aid package straightaway, arguing it’d be easier than having Israel negotiate a new, larger package every single year with the US Congress. “These cooperative programs – including the Arrow, David’s Sling, and Iron Dome – are critical for Israel’s defense against a growing array of missile threats and make an important contribution to U.S. missile defense programs”.
Brig. Gen. (ret.) Jacob Nagel, the acting national security advisor and head of the Israeli negotiating team, said at a briefing for diplomatic reporters on Wednesday that Netanyahu is interested in signing the agreement with Obama, but only if it meets Israel’s security needs.
Due to “multiple misleading reports”, the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday issued a statement insisting that “there is no cut in U.S. aid”.
The Obama administration statement threatened a veto if the House version of bill came to the president’s desk unaltered; it did not say the president would veto the bill if some components were removed and others remained. “Figure out for yourself what that means”.
Netanyahu on Wednesday dismissed widespread “panic” over reports implying the United States government is refusing to increase financial aid for Israeli missile defense.
And none of this appears to be of particular concern to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called on people to stop panicking over the White House’s objection earlier on Wednesday. A senior USA official was more forthcoming on Wednesday.
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Visiting Israel for strategic talks, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said it had received $8.5 million a day from the Obama administration in defence aid. Congress has for years substantially upped the presidential ‘ask.’ In 2002, Congress granted an additional $200 million in aid to Israel as part of an emergency anti-terrorism spending bill, way above the $65 million requested by President George W. Bush.
