"Israel" Worried over Cuts to US Military Aid

Local Editor

"Israeli" military officials expressed concern Wednesday that American financial cutbacks may result in drastic cuts to military aid to "Israel" and could put anti-missile projects such as "David's Sling" and the "Arrow 3" on the chopping block.

This comes as "Israeli" and American officials are expected to begin negotiations over a new, multi-year military package in the wake of US President Barack Obama's visit in the region last week.
"Our current agreement lasts through 2017, and we've directed our teams to start working on extending it for the years beyond," Obama said at a joint press conference with "Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week.

Meanwhile, "Israeli" officials hope that the basic outline of the current US military aid agreement will be preserved in a future multi-year deal with the US.
However, there is grave concern over possible cuts in aid because of the American economic crisis and the effects of sequestration - the across-the-board cuts mandated by 2011 legislation - on the US military budget, Maariv reported on Wednesday.

The current US military aid package provides the Zionist entity with $30 billion over the course of 10 years, but is set to expire in 2017
A senior staffer on the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee said earlier in March that military assistance to "Israel" would likely be cut by five percent, or between $150 and $160 million, out of the $3.1 billion "Israel" was to have been allocated in 2013, under the sequestration.

Beyond the military assistance funds, the Obama administration helped fund joint US-"Israeli" missile programs through the War Department .
"Three of these systems are the Arrow 2, Arrow 3 and "David's Sling", designed to intercept long- and medium-range missiles such as those found in the arsenals of Iran and Hizbullah," The Times of "Israel" said.

According to Maariv, sources in the "Israeli" military establishment say they hope that during the upcoming talks "the Americans will show understanding that "Israel's" security needs are increasing, on account of the instability characterizing the Middle East today."

Source: Times of "Israel", Edited by moqawama.org