BICOM

Israel’s acting national security advisor will travel to Washington on Sunday with the aim of finalising a new ten-year US military aid package for Israel, following protracted negotiations.

Brig. Gen. (Res.) Jacob Nagel will meet with the United States’ National Security Advisor Susan Rice and other officials as they attempt to work out the final details of the package. A statement from Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office yesterday said that the goal is “signing a new MOU (memorandum of understanding) between the two countries as soon as possible”.

It added: “Israel places great value on the predictability and certainty of the military assistance it receives from the United States and on honouring bilateral agreements.”

Two major sticking points appear to remain over the new deal. One is the gradual phasing out of the current arrangement whereby Israel is permitted to spend up to 40 per cent of US military aid on defence purchases in Israel, including fuel. Washington wants to see a greater percentage spent in the US and Haaretz says that Israel’s government has agreed in principle.

The second is Washington’s preference to include spending on Israel’s missile defence system within the overall military aid package. Until now, US Congress has decided annually on a separate amount for this purpose. Apparently, the US is willing to increase its missile defence allocation if Israel agrees to forgo this separate channel of funding.

The current memorandum of understanding details a defence package worth more than £2bn, but is due to expire in 2017. Israel’s Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman recently said that he expects the new package to be finalised before October. Speaking last month, Susan Rice assured that the new deal under discussion will be “the single largest military assistance package with any country in history” and will constitute “a significant increase in support” in comparison to the current arrangement.