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USA and Israel to sign record military aid deal
In a statement issued by the White House, President Obama said, “The new MOU constitutes the single largest pledge of military assistance in US history, totaling $38 billion over 10 years, including $33 billion in FMF funds and an additional $5 billion in missile defense funding”.
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The agreement concludes many months of negotiations that involved a delicate calculation by Israel about whether to strike a deal with the outgoing US president.
The State Department and Netanyahu’s office coordinated the release of brief Statements declaring the deal was complete and would be signed at a ceremony in Washington on Wednesday.
-Elimination of a longstanding provision that has allowed Israel to use a portion of the US aid to buy military fuel. The Obama administration insisted on limiting missile defense spending to $500 million a year, and on including that sum in the annual aid disbursement.
Talks over the deal – which will come into effect in 2019 – had previously faltered over these issues, as well as disagreements about the size of the aid package.
Mr Obama has sought to demonstrate his support for Israel’s security in order to undercut criticism that his administration has not been supportive of its Middle East ally.
The deal will help Israel with the building-up of its armed forces and improvement of it anti-missile defense systems, Netanyahu added.
The military deal which will be signed in Washington on Wednesday includes an estimated $5bn for missile defence.
She said the prolonged negotiations over the military aid package had been a product of separate disagreements over how much funding Israel needed and how the money should be used.
“That’s why Senator Kaine and I applaud the agreement on a new memorandum of understanding regarding American security assistance to Israel, and congratulate Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama on this important diplomatic achievement. It is a reflection of the great relationship between the state of Israel and America”, Meridor said.
It’s not clear why Netanyahu’s stance changed over the past several months, as the Obama administration basically stayed pat, according to current and former USA officials.
“That’s what we mean when we say Israel is not alone”.
Mr Obama’s relationship with Mr Netanyahu has been tense for years, and ties between the countries worsened significantly when the United States and world powers struck the nuclear deal with Iran.
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Obama and Netanyahu will both be in NY next week for the opening of the UN General Assembly, and officials have not ruled out the possibility of a meeting on the sidelines.