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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIsrael Banks on 10 More Years of US Aid
Promised Funding Pact To Cover Commercial DebtMar. 30, 2014 - 03:56PM | By BARBARA OPALL-ROME
TEL AVIV Despite misgivings over US President Barack Obamas Mideast agenda and deep-rooted doubts about his ability to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, the Israeli government is taking the US president at his word that it can expect another decade of military aid.
In fact, its banking on it.
After many months of internal debate and bureaucratic resistance from the Israeli Treasury, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon has government approval to take on more than $2 billion in commercial debt for near-term buys of V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft and other Pentagon-approved weaponry.
Under a US-approved deferred payment plan (DPP), Israel would pay only interest and fees over the course of the current agreement set to expire in September 2018. Principal will be covered by the new Obama-pledged package that would extend annual foreign military financing (FMF) aid through 2028, US and Israeli sources say.
During his visit here last March, Obama committed to talks aimed at extending US military assistance beyond the current 10-year, $30 billion agreement signed in 2007 under the administration of President George W. Bush.
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http://www.defensenews.com/article/20140330/DEFREG04/303300008/Israel-Banks-10-More-Years-US-Aid
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)I know money is 'fungible', but I really wish the US would simply stop working to arm the world. You want to give aid? Fine, give food, give medical aid, give infrastructure aid. Let other countries divert their own budgets to simply move money over from those areas to buy more guns, more helicopters, more tanks. I don't care who it is, we should stop dealing in violence and death.
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)a willing enabler of apartheid. When the USA can denounce the actions of Putin and Russia, while completely ignoring the actions of Israeli apartheid, it loses credibility on a whole new level.
Perhaps Israel should take a page from the Russian Bear and force a illegitimate poll within the West bank where only illegal Israeli setters have access to vote. Then Israel, after the counterfeit rally, can say that overwhelmingly the West bank has decided to not only join Israel but also shed itself of squatting Arabs.