U.S. increase military aid to Israel

Baku. 11 November. REPORT.AZ/ US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have reportedly agreed on an increase in American military aid to Israel, Report informs referring to Anadolu.

Obama and Netanyahu met for the first time in over a year at the White House on Monday, and spent much of their time discussing ways to expand US military assistance to Israel.

However, senior White House officials said there was no commitment to bolstering American aid during the meeting.

Israel is seeking a new 10-year agreement worth 5 billion USD in annual aid, a significant increase from the approximately 3 billion USD it has received yearly since a 2007 agreement with the Bush administration that expires in 2017.

The aid package is separate from the annual US funding of nearly 500 million USD which is spent on Israel’s missile programs in recent years. It is also on top of US warfare equipment held in Israel, valued at 1.2 billion USD.

US military assistance to Israel has amounted to 124.3 billion USD since it began in 1962, according to a recent congressional report.