Us Senate Boosts Israel's Missile Defense Program

[Purveyor]

Trump and Netanyahu Photo: Avi Hayon GPO


24 Sep, 2017 12:31

As it has usually done for many years, the US Senate last week voted to increase US aid to Israel for development and production of anti-missile defense systems. The aid was part of the US Department of Defense's budget for the 2018 fiscal year. The US House of Representatives approved the same amount for the Israeli missile defense programs in July. Such Congressional supplements to US aid for Israel will not occur again in the next 10 years; Congress thus took advantage of its last opportunity until 2029 to increase US aid for Israel's weapons procurement.

Starting in the 2019 fiscal year, Israel will be unable to ask Congress for an increase in military aid beyond what is written in the memorandum of understanding signed by two countries for military aid in the coming decade. Such requests were routinely made in previous years.

The Trump administration proposed granting Israel $147 million for its anti-missile programs in the 2018 fiscal year. At Israel's requests, the Senate increased the grant by $558 million to $705 million, $100 million more than the aid that Israel received last year for this purpose.

US aid for the missile programs is unlinked to annual military aid. It comes from the US Department of Defense budget, while military aid is part of the US foreign aid budget. In addition to the $705 million for missile defense, Israel will thus also receive $3.1 billion in regular military aid, an annual amount set by a 10-year Israel-US memorandum of understanding.

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https://www.globes.co.il/en/article-us-senate-gives-final-boost-to-israels-missile-defense-program-1001205936