Why Obama’s military aid to Israel is breaking all records

Record military aid for Israel will be Barack Obama’s enduring legacy on the Israeli-Palestinian issue as his presidency draws to a close. (Mark Israel/Flickr)

Ali Abunimah-15 February 2016

The Obama administration is offering Israel “the largest single pledge of military assistance to any country in US history,” an American official has confirmed.

This is a remarkable fact when set against the persistent claims of an ongoing “rift” between the US president and his Israeli counterpart Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The assurance was given to Defense News, in a report on Saturday outlining details of the package.

While the US hasn’t publicly confirmed specifics – which are still being negotiated – an Israeli cabinet minister told Defense News that the Obama package would see US military aid jump to more than $40 billion over the 10-year period beginning in 2018, from the $30 billion in the program that began in 2008.

Israel is the largest recipient of US military aid, according to Defense News, taking about 55 percent of the total. Aid from the US accounts for a quarter of Israel’s military budget.

Israel will also retain sweeteners that are denied other countries: the self-declared Jewish state receives its billions as a lump-sum payment at the beginning of each fiscal year, while other countries get installments.

While other countries are required to spend their US aid on American weapons and services, Israel is free to spend about a billion dollars each year subsidizing its own arms makers and research, developing technologies that may eventually compete against US companies.

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