The agreement was described as the “single largest pledge of bilateral military assistance in US history”, but it also involves major concessions by the Israeli government, which will no longer be able to seek additional annual funds from the US Congress over and above the new package.
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The acting head of Israel’s National Security Council, Yaakov Nagel, was in Washington to sign the agreement on behalf of Israel at the State Department on Wednesday.
The deal covers the period from 2019 to 2028 and will see Israel receive $3.3 billion per year in foreign military financing – up from $3.1 billion per year now – and $500,000 per year in funding for missile defense. There will be some internal spending also which is the most prominent point of spending money.
“Both Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu and I are confident that the new MoU will make a significant contribution to Israel’s security in what remains a unsafe neighborhood”, Obama said after the signing.
“Congress has once again demonstrated its leadership and commitment to ensuring that our friend and ally, the democratic Jewish state of Israel has the ability to defend itself and its people”, Ros-Lehtinen said.
And with new threats looming in Syria and Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reportedly looking for a more substantial boost in defense aid – something to the tune of $45 billion.
Concluded Tuesday, the deal is expected to govern the defense relationship between Israel and the US through 2028. Israel’s record aid package will give Washington something to point at in order to reassure Israel that the United States still has its best interests at heart.
Clinton said in a statement Wednesday that she would work to implement the agreement as president and that “America’s commitment to Israel’s security must always remain rock-solid and unwavering”.
Netanyahu’s office confirmed in a brief statement that a deal had been reached, but offered no additional comment. Washington had wanted Israel to spend a larger amount of the funds on American-made products.
The total includes $33 billion in foreign military financing funds – which is money used to buy materiel and ammunition – as well as $5 billion in missile defense funding.
Advisor Jacob Nagel said the military assistance package that the U.S. has generously agreed to provide Israel is not taken for granted and will help it shoulder the enormous defense burden that they face and enable better Israel – and enable Israel to better defend itself by itself against any threat. Israel said it was important to help the Israeli defense industry grow and mature, especially in high technology. “He may prefer her over Obama, but he’s now put himself into this very hard position where he’s been seen as supporting Republicans for the past eight years”, Dr. Chasek tells The Christian Science Monitor in a phone interview.
– Elimination of a longstanding provision that has allowed Israel to use a portion of the USA aid to buy military fuel.
Graham also said give Israel more money would be a great way to “send a signal to the ayatollahs” in Iran, and that whenever the Iranian government does something the United States doesn’t like they should expect more money to be sent to Israel.
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The deal, whose details have been reported by Reuters, will allow Israel to upgrade most of its fighter aircraft, improve its ground forces’ mobility and strengthen its missile defense systems, a top USA official said. “They have no effect whatsoever on the great friendship between Israel and the U.S.”.
