[NYTr] Israel promised $30.4B in military aid

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Ha'aretz - Jul 29, 2007
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/887256.html


Olmert welcomes 'significant' boost in U.S. military aid

By Aluf Benn and Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondents

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday welcomed an "important and
significant improvement" in the amount of American military aid to
Israel, which aims to calm fears over an impending major U.S. weapons
sale to Saudi Arabia.

Sources in Jerusalem told Haaretz over the weekend that Washington is
prepared to increase military aid to Israel in order to ease the
defense establishment's concern over the proposed American weapons sale
to Riyadh.

Olmert added that Israel appreciates Washington wishes to boost
moderate Arab states through weapons sales.

"We understand the United States' need to assist the moderate Arab
states, which are standing in one front with the United States and us
in the struggle against Iran," Olmert said, referring to Tehran's
nuclear program.

The prime minister that said he and U.S. President George W.

Bush, in talks at the White House last month, agreed Israel would
receive $30 billion in U.S. military aid over the next decade,
averaging $3 billion a year.

"This is an increase of 25 percent for the military aid to Israel from
the United States. I think this is a significant and important
improvement of the defense aid to Israel," Olmert told reporters.

According to the New York Times and the Washington Post, the proposed
package of advanced weaponry for Saudi Arabia is expected to eventually
total $20 billion. It reportedly includes advanced satellite-guided
bombs, upgrades to its fighter jets and new naval vessels. It has
reportedly raised concerns in Israel and among its supporters in
Congress.

Senior officials who described the package Friday said they believed
the administration had resolved those concerns, in part by promising
Israel $30.4 billion in military aid over the next decade, a
significant increase over what Israel has received in the past 10 years.

In addition to promising an increase in military aid, the Pentagon is
also asking the Saudis to accept restrictions on the range, size and
location of the satellite-guided bombs, including a commitment not to
store the weapons at air bases located nearby Israeli territory, the
officials said.

The package and the possible steps to allay Israel's concerns were
described to Congress this week, as the administration aimed to test
the reaction on Capitol Hill before entering into final negotiations
with Saudi officials.

The Saudis had requested that Congress be told about the planned sale,
the officials said, in an effort to avoid the kind of bruising fight
that occurred on Capitol Hill in the 1980s over proposed arms sales to
the kingdom.

Security officials in Jerusalem called the increase in military aid "an
unusual achievement." They added that the increase was the primary
objective during Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's most recent visit to the
U.S. last month.

"In Olmert's meeting with President Bush in Washington, the president
agreed to increase military aid by 25 percent to $3 billion per annum
for the next 10 years," one diplomatic source reported.

The final details about the new aid package to Israel will be worked
out during the visit by U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political
Affairs Nicholas Burns to the region, diplomatic sources said, adding
that his visit is slated for mid-August. They said Egypt is also
expected to receive additional military aid.

Israel and the U.S. still need to determine how much of the military
aid Israel will be allowed to change into shekels, in order to purchase
locally manufactured defense systems. Currently, Israel is permitted to
funnel 26.75 percent of U.S. military aid toward internal weapons deals.

A senior official in the Bush administration said the sizable increase
was a result of Israel's need to replace equipment expended during the
Second Lebanon War last summer, as well as to maintain its advantage in
advanced weaponry in the face of other regional countries' modernizing
their forces.

Israeli officials have made specific requests aimed at eliminating
concerns that satellite-guided bombs sold to the Saudis could be used
against its territory, administration officials said.

Their major concern is not a full-scale Saudi attack, but the
possibility that a rogue pilot armed with one of the bombs could attack
on his own or that the Saudi government could one day be overthrown and
the weapons could fall into the hands of a more radical regime, U.S.
officials explained.