Almost There: US-Israeli Defense Pact ‘Weeks Away’
A new defense “memorandum of understanding” between the U.S. and Israel is nearing completion, according to officials engaged in the talks.
Among those in the Israeli delegation are Chief of General Staff Gadi Eisenkott and National Security Adviser Yaakov Nagel. And, according to the Jerusalem Post, which has been covering the meetings, the issue of advanced anti-missile defense technology seems to be resolved.
The discussions are “aimed at concluding” the Memorandum of Understanding, which will amount to the largest foreign aid guarantee in U.S. history, a senior Obama administration official told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
“We are not going to speculate about potential timelines,” the official said. “Since the talks began, we have held several rounds of serious and productive discussions, which we expect to continue this week.”
The White House, the official continued, “remains prepared to sign a new MOU with Israel, which would include both FMF [foreign military financing] funds and an unprecedented multi-year commitment of missile defense funding.”
The deal is currently expected to total nearly $38 billion over its 10-year life.
