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9/15/16

US-Israeli military arms deal provides 15-20 percent of Israels Military budget

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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