The United States made its biggest pledge of military aid in history on Wednesday, promising Israel $38 billion over ten years to buy advanced planes and weaponry and boost its missile defense shield.
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The deal will represent the biggest pledge of USA military assistance made to any country but also involves major concessions granted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to officials on both sides.
Netanyahu noted that many in the U.S. appreciate that Israel’s security investment strengthens stability in the Middle East, one of the world’s most turbulent regions, and that the deal serves the security interests of both Israel and the United States.
The agreement is expected to give Israel as much as 3.8 billion US dollars a year over 10 years, The Washington Post reported.
Under the agreement, Israel’s ability to spend part of the funds on Israeli military products will be gradually phased out, eventually requiring all of the funds to be spend on American military industries. Israel’s preference for spending some internally had been a major sticking point in the deal.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu and I are confident that the new MOU will make a significant contribution to Israel’s security in what remains a risky neighborhood”, Obama said in a written statement. “Over the past eight years, my Administration has time and again demonstrated this commitment in word and deed”.
US President Barack Obama has not had the warmest of relations with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Washington in recent weeks stepped up its criticism of Israeli settlement building on occupied Palestinian land.
The United States has concluded a new 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Israel on security assistance for Fiscal Years 2019 through 2028, the State Department said Tuesday.
Netanyahu also agreed to end Israel’s use of 13 percent of the USA money on military fuel purchases, officials said.
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 US administration, according to officials on both sides. Both Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton have vowed to protect Israel’s security if elected.
-A phasing-out of a special arrangement that for decades has allowed Israel to use 26.3 percent of the USA aid on its own defense industry instead of on American-made weapons. The previous 10-year agreement is set to expire in 2018.
The new package for the first time will incorporate money for Israeli missile defence, which until now has been funded ad hoc by Congress. U.S. lawmakers have in recent years given Israel up to $600 million in annual discretionary funds for this objective. The State Department said it strongly disagreed with Netanyahu’s characterization, calling the reference to ethnic cleansing “inappropriate and unhelpful”.
“For years, USA funding for missile defense has been subject to uncertainty of the annual appropriations process”, Rice says.
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Netanyahu and Obama both plan to be in NY next week for U.N. General Assembly meetings, but officials have not announced any plans for formal meeting.
