The new 10-year deal, which constitutes the single largest pledge of military assistance in USA history, includes $33 billion in Foreign Military Financing funds and an unprecedented $5 billion commitment in missile defense assistance.
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US National Security Advisor Susan Rice said at the signing ceremony in Washington that “We affirm today the unbreakable bond between the United States and Israel” and that “the US will always be there for the state of Israel and the Israeli people”.
“The U.S.is sending a message to the region that despite all the differences between us and Israel over last few years, none of Israel’s adversaries have a patron willing to commit as much money to their defense as the United States”, said David Makovsky, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank in Washington, D.C.
US (United States) signed a planned security agreement with Jewish State, Israel.
She said she refuses to give up on the goal of two states for two people, urging Israelis and Palestinians to seek every opportunity to demonstrate commitment to peace.
The deal also phases out the 26 percent of annual aid Israel was allowed to spend on its own defense contractors – now it has to buy from US manufacturers.
The security aid package, Rice added, will also strengthen Israeli missile defense systems like the Iron Dome, which is created to destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells such as those fired from the Gaza Strip, while providing the United States with mutual benefits.
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Rice said nothing of the occupation, nor did she acknowledge the continued expansion of segregated settlements on occupied Palestinian land, which the United Nations has made clear are illegal.
-Elimination of a longstanding provision that has allowed Israel to use about 13 percent of the USA aid to buy military fuel.
While Arab and Muslim American groups have continuously condemned Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric, many Arab voters are reluctant to back Clinton, partly because of her foreign policy approach – particularly on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
While Israeli officials would not comment this week on the MOU’s effect on discussions for a STOVL variant or a renewed V-22 purchase, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at the need for a vertical takeoff aircraft in July.
The new deal between Israel and the U.S., is largely thanks to a letter signed by the Israeli government that promises to return any aid money given by Congress above the levels stipulated by the MOU in 2017 and 2018.
In her speech, Rice said a lot about Israel’s security, but said little about Palestinians, who have lived under illegal Israeli military occupation for almost 50 years.
Still, the agreement provides solid backing for the F-35 programme from Israel.
Some years, it has even declined, she said. “It demonstrates America’s strong and unwavering commitment to Israel”.
In any case, Miller said, Obama “will likely do something” in the Israeli-Palestinian realm before his term in office is over.
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The only way to deal with the Palestinians is to “beat them up, not once but repeatedly, beat them up so it hurts so badly, until it’s unbearable”, Netanyahu added in the leaked video.
