The United States recently revealed a military aid deal with Israel to grant Israel $38 billion over 10 years. This news story is related to Latest/150090-US-Israel-sign-38-billion-military-aid-package/ – breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne. While this allowance benefitted Israeli business, it was different in kind than with other military aid packages the US offers.
Advertisement
“This agreement demonstrates the simple truth that the relationship between Israel and the United States is strong and powerful”, Netanyahu said on Wednesday, as quoted by The Times of Israel, stressing that the deal “is the largest military aid package the U.S. has ever given out to any nation”.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama were reportedly at odds after the U.S. signed nuclear deal with Iran. Israel’s preference for spending some internally had been a major sticking point in the deal.
“The military assistance package that the United States has generously agreed to provide Israel is not taken for granted and will help us shoulder the enormous defense burden that we face”.
Despite increased funding under the new package, Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham, a key pro-Israel lawmaker, said that while the agreement was “deserving of respect”, it was too restrictive and not generous enough to meet Israel’s needs. While Israel defence officials requested more F-15 squadrons in 2015 as part of a “compensation package” following the US’s decision to lift sanctions against Iran, industry sources later told FlightGlobal that acquiring additional F-15s was unlikely.
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”.
Even with a higher overall level of defense aid, he said, blocking the government’s ability to spend the money in Israel would cut hundreds of millions of dollars out of the local industry. So the new yearly amount, $3.8 billion, does not represent an increase overall, said Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, non-profit, non-partisan policy institute that focuses on worldwide terrorism. In February, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quietly floated the prospect of waiting for Obama’s successor in hopes of securing a better deal.
This is especially relevant given the probability that over the next 10 years, Israel will be forced into another war with Hamas, and perhaps feel the necessity of taking out the Iranian bomb program. That money had previously been given to the Israelis separately by Congress and was not a part of the official MOU.
“This marks a significant increase over our existing funding, and it will ensure that Israel has the support it needs to defend itself by itself and to preserve its qualitative military edge”. American lawmakers have given Israel about $600 million in annual funds for this objective in recent years.
“The agreement will help us continue to build our armed forces and to continue to improve our anti-missile defenses”.
Advertisement
“Congress is not a party to this agreement nor is this agreement binding on future congresses”, Graham said in a statement.
