State Department: U.S. to sign pact for $30 billion military aid to Israel

Above: An Israeli air force F-16 flies over Masada. The deal will increase the value of assistance to Israel by 600 million dollars a year on average.

The United States will sign a pact this week providing 30 billion dollars in military aid to Israel over a decade, the State Department said Tuesday.

Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, who will make a three-day visit to Israel from Wednesday, "will sign the memorandum of understanding on the new 30 billion dollar, 10-year military assistance package," the department said in a statement.

The package was unveiled by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on July 30 as part of a new military pact with US allies in the Middle East in a bid to "counter the negative influences" of militant groups Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah as well as arch enemies Iran and Syria.

They include a 20-billion-dollar weapons package for Saudi Arabia, a 13-billion-dollar package for Egypt, and reportedly arms deals worth at least 20 billion dollars for other Gulf states.

The military aid to Israel reflected an increase of more than 25 percent, Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said, describing the package as a considerable improvement and very important element for national security.

"Other than the increase in aid, we received an explicit and detailed commitment to guarantee Israel's qualitative advantage over other Arab states," he had said following recent talks with US President George W. Bush.

Read the rest at France 24

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