The United States military aid to Israel amounts to a whopping 15 - 20
percent of Israel's annual military budget. Despite US largesse, a
powerful political lobby in Washington enables Israeli intransigence.
Israel is procuring all kinds of arms from the United States, but most
important for Israel has been the advanced combat aircraft, the F-15 and
the F-16. And also very important now, the new F-35, the most advanced
combat aircraft the US is willing to export to anyone. That is really
significant for Israel because those weapons are often equipped with
subsystems coming from the Israeli arms industry itself, such as the
bombs and missiles. Those platforms are used to reach deep into the
territory of an enemy. That is part of the core of Israeli military
potential.
The Obama administration’s announcement that the US and
Israel have agreed on a record new package of at least $38 billion in US
military aid over a 10 year period is an effort to appease the US arms
industry, according to an American writer and researcher who is based in
Washington, DC.
Walt Peretto made the remarks in an
interview with Press TV on Wednesday, a day after the Reuters news
agency reported that the 10-year pact between Washington and Tel Aviv is
expected to be signed within days.
The deal will represent the
biggest pledge of US military assistance ever made to any foreign party,
American and Israeli officials told Reuters.
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