Officials said the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has drafted
a 10-year plan for American military aid to Israel under the U.S. Foreign
Military Funding program. Under the plan, U.S. military assistance would
increase from the current $2.3 billion to nearly $3 billion by 2017.
"These talks reflect the need for U.S. strategic aid to Israel to face a
combination of threats, particularly in the area of conventional warfare and
missile defense," an official said.
Officials said the plan was relayed by Israeli Defense Minister Amir
Peretz during his visit to the United States this week. They said Peretz,
accompanied by Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh, urged a long-range U.S.
military assistance plan that would match Israel's goal for a multi-year
defense budget.
Under the proposal, the United States would increase military aid to
Israel by $60 million per year. The aid package, which requires approval by
Congress, would assure a rise in U.S. military assistance from nearly $2.4
billion to about $3 billion.
The negotiations on the Israeli proposal began on March 1 in Washington.
The Israeli embassy in Washington and the U.S. State Department participated
in the talks, led by Amos Gilad, director of strategic planning at the
Israeli Defense Ministry.
"The meeting today is another manifestation of the unshakable commitment
by the United States to Israel's security and a step towards fortifying and
enhancing the strategic relationship between our two countries," the Israeli
embassy and State Department said in a March 1 statement.
In 2008, the United States was scheduled to end all economic aid to
Israel while providing the Jewish state with $2.4 billion in military aid.
The arrangement reached in 1998 stipulated a decrease in economic assistance
with a concurrent rise in U.S. military aid.
The Israeli proposal does not include funding for joint Israeli-U.S.
defense programs. The largest of them is the Arrow-2 missile defense
program, mostly financed by the United States since 1988. Israel also
receives funding for the development of counter-insurgency technologies and
systems.
The Peretz talks were said to have included a review of Israel's defense
procurement plans over the next decade. Officials said this has included the
U.S.-origin Joint Strike Fighter, PAC-3 missile defense system and Littoral
Combat Ship.
