US to ink $ 30 billion arms deal with Israel
UNITED STATES: 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.
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 in value 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.
With current US defense aid to Israel standing at 2.4 billion dollars
a year, the new package will hike the value of assistance to the Jewish
state by 600 million dollars a year on average, officials said.
The two countries are increasingly alarmed by Iran’s nuclear
ambitions, which have already incurred international economic sanctions.
Iran insists its nuclear program is designed for peaceful, civilian
energy purposes.
Burns will meet with Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense
Minister Ehud Barak, and other Israeli officials during the visit in
which “discussions on regional security, including the challenge posed
by Iran” would be held, the State Department said. Burns will also meet
with Palestinian Authority leaders regarding “the development of a
political horizon” and US humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian
people.
The United States is striving to forge a deal for the establishment
of a Palestinian state ahead of an international meeting called for by
Bush in the fall.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said last week he had positive
talks with Olmert in the West Bank city of Jericho, the first time in
seven years that such a high-level meeting has taken place on
Palestinian territory.
Burns will not travel from Israel to the other Middle East ally
states to discuss the arms deals, officials said.
A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that
“at some point” Burns will visit Egypt and Saudi Arabia and the other
Gulf allies.
“There was one iteration of this trip where it was going to be wider
but I think it is more narrow this time,” the official said.
Rice had said earlier that Burns will travel to Israel and the region
this month to finalize the weapons agreements.
Washington, Wednesday, AFP
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