US ups Israeli defence aid to $30bn
Pastor Dale Morgan
US ups Israeli defence aid to $30bn*
July 29, 2007 08:51pm
Article from: Agence France-Presse
PRIME Minister Ehud Olmert has announced a new $30 billion ($35.2
billion) US defence package to preserve Israel's regional military
superiority, as Washington readied an Arab arms deal to counter Iran.
The sizeable hike to annual US defence and military aid to its closest
Middle East ally was unveiled by the beleaguered Mr Olmert amid reports
of a hefty US arms deal with Saudi Arabia, although Israeli politicians
dismissed concerns of a new regional arms race.
"In my last meeting with the president of the United States, we agreed
that the aid would stand at $30 billion ($35.2 billion) over the next 10
years, meaning over three billion dollars ($3.5 billion) a year,
starting next year,'' Mr Olmert said.
"This is an increase of over 25 per cent in the military and defence aid
of the United States to Israel,'' he said, describing the package as a
considerable improvement and very important element for national security.
"Other than the increase in aid, we received an explicit and detailed
commitment to guarantee Israel's qualitative advantage over other Arab
states,'' said Mr Olmert, whose approval ratings have sunk to single
digits amid continuing anger at his government's handling of last
summer's Lebanon war.
Current US defence aid to Israel stands at $2.4 billion ($2.8 billion) a
year.
The two countries are increasingly alarmed by Iran's nuclear ambitions -
which have already incurred international economic sanctions.
Mr Olmert last met Mr Bush at the White House on June 19, when a senior
Israeli government source said the new aid scheme was decided upon.
"We understand the United States' desire to help moderate states which
stand at a united front with the United States and Israel in the
struggle against Iran,'' Mr Olmert told the start of his weekly cabinet
meeting.
A senior US defence official has said that Washington is readying a
major arms package for Saudi Arabia with an eye to countering the
changing threat from Tehran, Israel's arch foe and determined to press a
nuclear agenda.
The Pentagon provided no details on the package, reportedly $20 billion
($23.4 billion) over the next decade, but officials said it will include
new weapons for the United Arab Emirates, and military and economic
support to Egypt.
Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit, a member of Mr Olmert's centrist Kadima
party, dismissed any suggestion that the region was entering a new arms
race, in light of the prospective US arms deal in the Gulf and the US
hike to Israel.
"This is not an arms race. The weaponry is constantly improving but
Israel remains vigilant to possesses advanced weapons and that it keeps
its edge over other states,'' he said.
Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog, from the centre-left Labour party, said
that it was essential to maintain Israel's armed advantage against the
"axis of evil'' - coined by Mr Bush in 2002 in reference to Iran, Iraq
and North Korea.
"We are at the forefront of moderate states facing the axis of evil.
Sustaining Israel's military superiority is an essential element of the
ties between Israel and the United States,'' he said.
A senior Israeli government source said that under the 10-year defence
package, the United States agreed to sell the Jewish state the new
generation F-35 fighter jet, advanced bombs and laser-guided missiles.
US defence aid to Israel began in 1973 but a regular 10-year aid plan -
with the previous one expiring this summer - was institutionalised in
1977 as part of the Egypt-Israel peace agreement, the official said.
The military aid is made up of 75 per cent US military hardware, ranging
from ammunition to warplanes, with the other 25 per cent in cash, which
goes mainly towards securing new Israeli-made weapons.
But although Uri Bar-Joseph, an Israeli professor of international
relations specialising in security concerns, said the news arms deal
looked like an achievement for Israel, he questioned whether more cash
and sophisticated weaponry could fight "terrorism''.
"It's more or less giving Israel another $10 billion ($11.7 billion)
over the next 10 years, which looks like an achievement. The question is
whether Israel needs it or not,'' he said.
"The security problems of Israel are not security problems that demand
more tanks or more sophisticated airplanes... Sophistication and modern
arms don't help when it comes to terrorism,'' he said.