Israel Matzav

Obama continuing level of aid to Israel... or is he?

The same JPost article I linked in my last post had this to say about aid to Israel:

The budget plan also fully funds US military assistance to Israel as agreed under the 10-year Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two countries, and includes a $770m. “Middle East and North Africa Incentive Fund.”

The allocation, of which officials said $700m. was new money, is aimed at allowing the US “to quickly respond to dramatic changes in the region and incentivize reforms,” according to a State Department budget fact sheet.

“We’re in a new world. The Arab Spring has come. We need to make sure we have the tools and the flexibility to fund these initiatives,” Nides said.

...

Israel, which is due to get $3.075 billion in 2012, would get $3.1 billion in 2013 should the plan be approved.

Really? Well, maybe (Hat Tip: Sunlight).

Tucked within Obama’s 2013 budget proposal is a request to reduce the amount of money Israel receives for its critical missile defense systems by $6.3 million relative to the 2012 budget proposal. Among these defense systems are Arrow and David’s Sling, both of which are jointly operated with the U.S.

Publicly, the president has referred to himself as a stalwart champion of the U.S.-Israel military alliance. But administration efforts to reduce the amount of missile defense aid that Israel receives appear to be a growing trend in the president’s budget proposals.

In fiscal year 2011, the administration requested $121.7 million in military aid for Israel’s key missile defense programs, according to the Defense Department. That number dropped to $106.1 million in the 2012 budget proposal, and plummeted again to $99.8 million in Obama’s newly released 2013 proposal.

...

“The continued downward slide in President Obama’s requests for critical US-Israel missile defense programs is troubling, and while Israel can continue to rely on close friends on Capitol Hill to make up the shortfall in funds needed, one is left wondering what President Obama would do if he becomes a lame duck President,” said a defense budget analyst who has tracked Israel funding for years, but was not authorized to speak on record.

The answer to that wondering is unfortunately obvious. Let's hope and pray we never have to find it out.

Labels: Arrow 2, Barack Hussein Obama, David's sling, US foreign aid, US-Israel relationship

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:29 AM