BICOM

A new ten-year United States military aid package to Israel was signed by officials from both countries yesterday in Washington, following a period of protracted talks.

The memorandum of understanding, as the agreement is known, was signed at the State Department by US Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon and by Jacob Nagel, acting head of Israel’s National Security Council.

The deal is worth a total of £29bn over ten years in ten roughly equal installments. This will include £377m annually, specifically for developing missile defence systems. Until now, such spending has been subject to a separate allocation by US Congress. Under the agreement, Israel will not approach Congress for additional missile defence budgets but can request sums for other security purposes.

Another change from the current military aid package, which expires next year, is the gradual phasing out of Israel’s right to use up to 26 per cent of the allocation to purchase equipment from Israeli defence industries. Talks on the new package have been ongoing since as far back as November 2015.

US President Barack Obama said that the deal “will ensure that Israel has the ability to defend itself from all manner of threats”.

He added: “It is because of this same commitment to Israel and its long-term security that we will also continue to press for a two-state solution to the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also released a statement praising the “important achievement” of an “historic agreement,” which constitutes the United States’ largest ever military aid package.

Netanyahu thanked Obama and said: “This agreement illustrates a simple truth: relations between Israel and the United States are strong and steadfast. This does not mean that we do not have disagreements from time to time, but these are disagreements within the family.”

However, critics within Israel have said that Netanyahu’s attitude towards the Obama administration prevented an even more generous package. Zionist Union MK Shelly Yachimovich said the “Americans proposed giving us much more, but Netanyahu’s arrogance and irresponsibility” prevented such a scenario.