In an extraordinarily emotive visit here aimed at rallying Israel’s
current and future leaders to seize the chance for peace, U.S. President
Barack Obama doubled down on U.S. security support with a new agreement
to extend annual military aid through 2027.
The pending 10-year
military aid package would commit Washington to provide up to $40
billion in additional Foreign Military Financing (FMF) grant assistance
to Israel, sources here say. It would automatically kick in at the
conclusion of the current 10-year, $30 billion agreement signed in 2007
under
President George W. Bush and would bind Obama’s successor to
continued military aid to Israel.
The current agreement elevated
Israel’s annual grant aid from $2.4 billion to $3.1 billion, and Israeli
officials expect the follow-on package to provide incremental boosts to
nearly $4 billion per year.
At a joint March 20 news conference
here with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Obama reiterated
Washington’s “solemn obligation” to safeguard Israel’s “non-negotiable”
security.
“As part of our long-term commitment to Israel’s
security, the prime minister and I agreed to begin discussions on
extending military assistance. Our current agreement lasts through 2017,
and we’ve directed our teams to start working on extending it for the
years beyond,” Obama said.
Obama’s unusually early authorization
of negotiations for a follow-on aid package is one of the many
confidence-building, security-enhancing measures aimed at “encouraging
the Israeli government to take those risky, yet necessary steps toward
peace,” a U.S. source here said.
In addition to extending annual
FMF aid, Obama pledged additional measures to preserve Israel’s
qualitative military edge. As an example — and in reference to
sequestration-mandated budget cuts — Obama said the White House “will
take steps” to ensure “no interruption” to some $200 million in 2013
funding for Israel’s Iron Dome active defense system.
Moreover,
Obama said his team would continue to work with Congress on future Iron
Dome funding, which sources here estimated could result in an additional
$600 million over the next two years.
Obama’s visit here in the
opening days of Netanyahu’s center-right coalition government was
meticulously crafted to accent the commonality of interests and points
of agreement on the bilateral agenda. Differences associated with West
Bank settlements or the point at which Washington would be prepared to
exercise its military option in Iran were intentionally downplayed in
White House attempts to set a positive stage for the next four years.
Obama
sought to ensure the new government and the public at large that he was
prepared to use military force if his preferred combination of
sanctions and diplomacy fail to derail Tehran’s nuclear weapons drive.
In
a public endorsement of Israel’s claimed right to act unilaterally to
pre-empt the nuclear threat from Iran, Obama said, “Each country has to
make its own decisions when it comes to the awesome decision to engage
in any kind of military action.”
Speaking to reporters here,
Netanyahu also sought to assuage public doubts about Washington’s
commitment to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran.
“I’m absolutely convinced that the president is determined to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons,” he said.
Nevertheless,
Netanyahu maintained “Israel’s right and duty to defend itself, by
itself, against any threat … including the Iranian threat.”
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20130324/DEFREG02/303240005/U-S-Israel-Negotiate-Military-Aid-Extension?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
Thursday 28 March 2013
U.S., Israel To Negotiate Military Aid Extension
Posted @ 16:28
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