U.S. and Israeli officials signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) Sept. 14 to give Israel $38 billion in military aid over 10 years, including $5 billion for missile defense.
The MoU, which covers fiscal years 2019 through 2028, will allow Israel to buy more Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35 and Boeing [BA] F-15 fighters and “substantially enhance the mobility of its ground forces,” U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice said. The agreement will also provide more stability in funding for Israeli missile defense, which has traditionally relied on yearly plus-ups from Congress.
“For years, the United States funding for Israeli missile defense has been subject to the uncertainty of the annual appropriations process,” Rice said at a signing ceremony at the U.S. State Department. “Some years, the amount of missile defense funding has been unclear for months at a time. Some years, it’s even declined. [With the new MoU, Israel] will be able to count on a steady, multi-year commitment.”
Rice called the MoU “the single largest pledge of military assistance — to any country — in American history.” It will succeed the current $30 billion MoU, which was signed in 2007 and expires at the end of FY 2018. Since FY 2009, when President Obama took office, the United States has given Israel $23.6 billion through the foreign military financing program and another $3.4 billion for Iron Dome and other missile defense systems, according to the White House.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s foreign operations panel, criticized several aspects of the new MoU, including a requirement that Israel phase out using U.S. aid on its own companies, whose “technology is some of the best in the world.” Graham also said the agreement is not binding on future presidents and lawmakers, who will be free to provide more aid than the MoU calls for.