US, Israel Sign $38 Bn Military Aid Deal

Over the next ten years the USA will provide Israel with $38 bn, representing a dramatic increase from the $3.1 bn that the United States gives annually under the current deal.

The deal, the largest such agreement the USA has ever had with any country, amounts to $3.8 billion a year beginning in budget year 2019, compared with $3.1 billion the US gave Israel annually under the current 10-year deal that expires in 2018.

Susan Rice, Obama’s national security adviser said the negotiations had been “completely unrelated” to the debate over whether the president should weigh in on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

After months of negotiations that took place after a particularly tense time in the relationship amid disputes over the Iran nuclear deal, the memorandum of understanding was signed at the State Department by Israel’s national security adviser, Jacob Nagel, and Thomas Shannon, the third-highest ranking US diplomat. Republican critics accuse him of not being attentive enough to Israel’s security, which the White House strongly denies, and of taking too hard of a line with the Israeli leader.

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 USA administration, according to officials on both sides.

New construction in the Jewish settlements in the Israeli-held West Bank sharply increased in the first half of 2016, figures released by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday. Some years, it has even declined, she said.

Nagel hailed the agreement as an indication of the “rock-solid alliance” between Israel and the United States. “Everyone can see and feel the special relationship between our countries and our people”.

“This is the single largest pledge of military assistance-to any country-in American history”, Rice said. Israel’s preference for spending some internally had been a major sticking point in the deal.

The new 10-year deal, which constitutes the single largest pledge of military assistance in U.S. history, includes $33 billion in Foreign Military Financing funds and an unprecedented $5 billion commitment in missile defense assistance.

-$500 million a year for Israeli missile defense funding, the first time this has been formally built into the aid pact.

With the military aid deal now sealed, Goldenberg added, “It certainly means that if he does go for it, he has a strong political argument to say, ‘Look, I’ve been as supportive of Israel as anyone'”.

However, the agreement angered pro-Palestinian groups, who said the USA should not reward Israel with unprecedented aid despite its settlement-building in the disputed West Bank. This clause has been a bone of contention between the nations, however, the U.S. managed to have its way after nine months of negotiation.

After sealing the deal, the outgoing American president, who has had his differences with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the past over Iran nuclear deal, stressed on the importance of finding a peaceful solution to the problem the state is embroiled in with Palestine.

But the Obama administration was eager to lock in the agreement before leaving office to help bolster Obama’s legacy and undercut the criticism that his administration was insufficiently supportive of Israel.

Mr Obama’s relationship with Mr Netanyahu has been fraught for years, and ties between the countries worsened significantly when the USA and world powers struck a nuclear deal with Iran.