Talks have resumed between Israel and the US over a proposed increase of America’s $3 billion per year military aid to the Jewish state. Israel had frozen the deal in protest against the nuclear deal with Iran, which is now in effect.
The current 10-year American military aid package is due to expire in 2017, and the two allies have been in negotiations about a new one, which could increase the sum by $600 million to $700 million annually. This would bring the total aid received by Israel to between $3.6 billion and $3.7 billion per year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had suspended these talks in protest against Washington working on a nuclear deal in Iran, which Tehran and six world leading powers signed in July.
READ MORE: Iran Parliament passes bill approving nuclear deal
After Israeli efforts to derail the deal failed, the negotiations are resuming.
"With the nuclear deal now moving ahead, Israel is also moving ahead, hoping to forge a common policy with the United States to address the continuing dangers posed by Iran," the Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer said in a speech at the National Israeli American Conference in Washington DC.
"Discussions over a new Memorandum of Understanding between Israel and the United States, which had been on hold for some time, resumed this past week in Washington," he said, using another term for the defense-aid agreement.
It comes as America’s top military officer, Marine General Joseph Dunford, has arrived in Israel on Saturday for his first visit to a foreign country since becoming the chair of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff on October 1. He is to meet Israeli Defense Forces commander Gadi Eisenkot and discuss a range of issues, including the Iranian deal, Russia’s campaign in Syria and the aid package.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, visiting Washington later this month, is to pursue these talks, as will Netanyahu when he meets US President Barack Obama in the White House on November 9, Dermer mentioned.
Israel has been relying on direct American aid since its creation in 1948 and is the largest beneficiary of US financial assistance since World War II, a June US Congress report said. The Jewish state has received more than $124 billion from the US in current dollars in bilateral assistance, most of it for military purposes.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.
No comments :
Post a Comment