In accordance with the deal, which the two countries have been negotiating since November 2015, the United States will provide Israel with $38 billion in military aid over the next decade, $5 billion of them will be dedicated to the development of missile defense systems. It’s Obama’s parting attempt to establish a legacy of strong USA support for Israel’s security.
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The final package of $38 billion would be higher than the $3.1 billion of assistance provided annually in the expiring deal, but lower than the $45 billion sought by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I said, ‘Tell the administration to go F themselves'”.
Israel has always been a major recipient of U.S. aid, mostly in the form of military assistance against a backdrop of an ebbing and flowing conflict with the Palestinians and Israel’s neighbours, as well as threats from Iran.
Israel’s Channel 2 has today reported that Israeli officials have accepted the most recent USA military aid package, which will see them receiving some $38 billion over the next decade. “If they don’t like what I’m doing, they can veto the bill”, Graham told The Post. According to the agreement, Israel will receive 38 billion dollars from the U.S. over the next decade.
“All I can say is that I’m not going to let this administration pick up the appropriation process”, Graham said.
The deal would set USA funding for Israeli missile defense at $500 million per year, just above the $487 million provided in 2016.
The US also reportedly wants to remove a clause in the memorandum that allows Israel to spend $400 million a year on “military fuels”. The administration asked for only $145.8million in its 2017 budget request. Graham, who chairs of the Senate appropriations subcommittee, has already OK’d a bill that would give Israel $3.4 billion next year. The Israeli commitment letter is in addition to another qualifier, which is that Israel may request an aid increase in the event of an emergency such as war.
“Amid growing rocket and missile threats in the Middle East, it is prudent for the United States and Israel to advance and accelerate bilateral cooperation on missile defense technologies”, the senators wrote.
Obama has been offering record deals to Israel for over a year, with Israel long demanding a little more and a little more.
“I asked the prime minister, ‘If you don’t need this money, I’ll gladly change it, ‘” Graham said.
“The negotiations were between the Obama administration and the Israeli government”.
Almost 10 months of drawn-out aid negotiations have underscored continuing friction between US President Barack Obama and Netanyahu over last year’s US-led nuclear deal with Iran, Israel’s arch-foe.
That congressional Republicans are advocating more aid to Israel than the Israeli government agreed to is certainly odd.
However the new MOU will not be signed between President Barack Obama and Netanyahu, who have had a frosty relationship due to the USA leader’s support for last year’s Iranian nuclear deal, which was bitterly opposed by Israel.
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USA congressional approval is needed each year for disbursement of the aid to Israel as part of the annual budget process. Congress will still be there after Obama is gone and will demand its say in Israeli security aid going forward either way.
