Senator says Israel made a mistake by signing security deal

Graham, a hawkish, pro-Israel Republican from SC, told reporters September 14 that the 10-year, $38 billion pledge was too little and the White House wrongly sought to stop Congress from adding to it.

While some people lavished praised on the Israeli prime minister, others wondered if interviewer Asaf Liberman was simply trying to get Netanyahu to leave Israel.

“We could have received a better aid deal, [but] the prime minister gave an unnecessary speech to Congress, and we’re paying for it”, Yadlin said.

A new pact now allows Israel to avoid uncertainties surrounding the next president, whether Democrat Hillary Clinton or Republican Donald Trump, and to give Israel’s defense establishment the ability to plan ahead.

In one of the strongest statements he has made on the issue to date, Mr Ban said on Thursday that Israel’s “stifling and oppressive” occupation of Palestinian territory “must end”.

The security agreement, which begins in the 2019 budget year, is set to last 10 years and amounts to $3.8 billion annually.

“In the agreement, the Obama administration stung the prime minister, Congress, and AIPAC – three birds with one stone”, Yadlin said.

It was Graham’s initiative that forced the White House to postpone the signing of the new defense package by a month after concluding the negotiations between Israel and the U.S. Senior Obama advisers told Netanyahu’s top bureau officials that there was no point in signing a new defense deal if Israel intends to collaborate with Congress in violating the current military aid agreement.

“The idea that the MOU is binding on us, I’m going to fight violently”, Graham said. The two are linked, he said, because Israel was made less safe by the United States nuclear deal with Iran. National Security Advisor Susan Rice, at the signing ceremony, hailed the largest single pledge of assistance in usa history to any country, a sign of the two countries’ “ironclad bond”.

A follow-on to $24 billion in military aid over the past eight years, the deal provides $33 billion in foreign military financing and $5 billion for missile defense. Under the previous arrangement, Congress approved funds for Israel’s “Iron Dome” missile defense system separately and on an annual basis.

While the package constitutes the most US military aid ever given to any country, it entails concessions by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to officials on both sides.

“Ultimately, both this MOU and efforts to advance the two-state solution are motivated by the same core USA objective that has been shared by all administrations, Democratic and Republican, over the last several decades – ensuring that Israelis can live alongside their neighbors in peace and security”, Obama said.