Thursday, July 10, 2008

"In August 2007, the Bush Administration announced that it would increase U.S. military assistance to Israel by $6 billion over the next decade. For FY2008, Israel is receiving $2.4 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF). The agreement calls for incremental annual increases in FMF to Israel, reaching $3.1 billion a year by FY2018.1 Egypt, traditionally the second largest recipient of U.S. aid in the Middle East, will receive no corresponding increase in U.S. military assistance over the same ten-year period. Military analysts speculate that the increase in U.S. assistance will
facilitate potential Israeli purchases of the most sophisticated U.S. equipment, including a possible sale of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).2 Under the terms of the agreement, Israel will still be able to spend 26% of U.S. assistance on Israeli manufactured equipment." (thanks Sellam)