Fine Print: A push to boost military support to Israel because of Iranian ... - Washington Post
Obama pointed out that the administration is holding talks with Israeli officials to extend for an additional decade the Bush administration’s 10-year, $30 billion plan to pay for Israel’s foreign military purchases of equipment and training,... The agreement was signed in 2007 and runs out in fiscal 2018. The new deal would “cement for the next decade our unprecedented levels of military assistance,” Obama said in the Nadler letter. Current discussions involve raising the annual amount, which at $3. 1 billion a year is more than half of all U. S. foreign military sales support worldwide, to possibly $3. 5 billion a year. Another unique element of the Israeli weapons purchase program is that up to 26. 3 percent of the U. S. money can be spent for Israeli-manufactured military equipment. Ironically, the U. S. promise of increased aid to Israel’s defense budget comes as the Pentagon is facing budgetary pressures and Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is having an internal debate over “efficiency reforms” recommended in the Israel... A June 10 Congressional Research Service study found that the U. S. military assistance has not only “helped transform Israel’s armed forces into one of the most technologically sophisticated militaries in the world,” but also “helped Israel build... Source: www.washingtonpost.com
