Israel and the US sign a deal

The biggest military aid package ever

It’s an exclamation point on the case the Obama administration has been making for years that he strengthened more than ever the US commitment to Israeli security

Brig Gen Yaakov Nagel, the acting head of Israel’s National Security Council, has been dispatched with instructions to meet with White House officials for signing an agreement “as soon as possible,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said this past week.

That represents a striking about-face for Netanyahu, who angered the Obama administration when he mused during a February meeting with his cabinet that Israel might decide to wait and reach an agreement with the next administration.

Nagel’s visit signals that Netanyahu may have concluded that he won’t necessarily get a better deal than the one he can forge with Obama, with whom he has had a visibly testy personal relationship. Both countries are now eager to strike a deal before Obama’s term ends. The Obama administration has said it is prepared to sign a 10-year “memorandum of understanding” that significantly raises the $3.1 billion a year the United States currently grants Israel under an existing agreement that expires in 2018. In addition, Congress has provided additional money for missile defense.

Over months of secret negotiations that picked up steam late last year, Netanyahu was holding out for as much at $5 billion a year, according to accounts in the Israeli news media. Israelis argued that they need to spend much more on defense in the wake of last year’s Iran nuclear deal, which is freeing up frozen Iranian assets that Israel fears may be used in part to fund Iranian aggression in the region. Reported by the Washington Post of July 29, 2016.

One major obstacle to finalising an agreement, however, is a dispute over where the funds can be spent? The Obama administration shows their worry.

According to US and Israeli analysts familiar with the negotiations, the Obama administration is insisting on phasing out a special arrangement that has allowed Israel to spend 26 percent of US aid on its own defense research, development and procurement. No other country receiving US funds is permitted to do so, but it was carved out in the 1980s to allow Israel to build up its nascent defense infrastructure. With Israel’s defense industry now thriving, the administration wants to pare that back and require that more US aid go to American companies providing goods and services.

The possibility that Israeli defense companies could lose hundreds of millions of dollars of contracts is already causing controversy. Critics say they fear it could impair Israel’s ability to maintain equipment that is the most advanced in the region, known as its qualitative military edge, disturbing the already disturbed region.

Israelis are also said to be displeased with a US position that whatever amount of money they agree on will be final and that Israel will not go to Congress requesting more money, as stated in the Washington Post of 29 July 2016.

As the talks have dragged on, Netanyahu started getting pressured to finalise an agreement soon so that the Israeli military could proceed with its long-term planning. Israel’s finance and defense ministers both complained publicly that the delay was creating uncertainty that made planning difficult, and they urged that the deal be completed and signed quickly.

Analysts said there was also growing recognition that concluding the agreement with Obama carried strong symbolism.

“Though Obama has been a strong supporter of Israeli security throughout his term, there’s clearly a difficult relationship between Netanyahu and Obama”, said Ilan Goldenberg, director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.

“For them to agree on this would send a signal to the world that although their personal relationship is not great, here Obama is making a down payment on 10 years of deep US-Israeli security cooperation. That’s a powerful message.”

David Makovsky, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the Israelis are conscious that support for Israel is slipping in some liberal quarters and that a 10-year deal with a liberal president would make it “bulletproof.”

Makovsky also cited the “unpredictability factor” of Donald Trump as a potential successor to Obama. “He professes his support of Israel,” Makovsky said of Trump. “But he’s also someone saying America’s broke. A bit of bird-in-the-hand would lock that in.”

The US election season also has put a more subtle pressure on Netanyahu, as Israeli diplomats and advisers expressed concern that the bipartisan support Israel could always count on could erode in a super-politicised election.

“The security assistance to Israel should not become a political football, anytime, and especially during an election season,” said Sallai Meridor, who was Israel’s ambassador to the United States when the last memorandum of understanding was signed, in 2007. “It’s a prerequisite that it should be endorsed and supported by both parties. That’s very important.”

The arrival of Nagel suggests that an agreement is entering the homestretch. Netanyahu has said he hopes talks will be concluded “within a few weeks.” Ultimately, both Obama and Netanyahu would gain political benefits from a deal, analysts say.

It’s an exclamation point on the case the Obama administration has been making for years that he strengthened more than ever the US commitment to Israeli security.

David Halperin, director of the New York-based Israel Policy Forum has said that it helps Netanyahu rebut criticism in recent years that he has sometimes quietly, sometimes very bluntly, sided with Republican points of views. It helps a bit to restore balance.

Washington’s viewpoint about Israel and the Muslim world can easily be judged from the deal stated above. Israel, basically, is Washington’s baby, for whom United States buffoons have always out rightly favoured and tried to thumb-throat the Muslim states by declaring them rebellious.

As far Israel is concerned, there should be no worries for her, she would be properly taken care of by Washington who so ever sits in the chair, Democrats or Republics.

How very sad

It’s a pity for the Muslim world that a Muslim president of United States thinks more about Israel than the Muslim states. Though they have a life time agreement but the present ten year military agreement between the two will create an imbalance in the already imbalanced region of Middle East. It’s a clear sign for the Muslim countries in the region to make themselves a strong alliance to confront Israel’s antagonism and challenge which is inevitable and expected in the coming years.