U.S. and Israel Sign Military Aid Deal

JERUSALEM-Israel and the US signed an agreement today that will give Israel $30 billion in military aid over the next decade.Officials called the aid a long-term investment in peace.The officials insisted that the agreement did not depend on a simultaneous American plan to sell $20 billion worth of sophisticated arms to its Arab allies in the region, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.But Israeli officials acknowledged that the aid to Israel will make it easier for the Bush Administration to win congressional approval for the arms sales to Arab countries.Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel has not objected to the arms sales, saying that he understands Washington’s need to assist moderate Sunni Arab states that, like Israel, oppose Shiite Iran’s reach for regional supremacy and nuclear weapons.
R. Nicholas Burns, who is Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, said at the signing ceremony here that “there is no question that, from an American point of view, the Middle East is a more dangerous region now even than it was 10 or 20 years ago, and that Israel is facing a growing threat” from Iran and its ally,Syria.The threat, Mr. Burns said,is “immediate, and it’s also long-term.”He cited Iran’s support for organizations that the US classifies as terrorist,and that are opposed to peace and stability in the region,like Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Palestinian territories and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.The new aid to Israel will average $3 billion a year, an increase of about 25% from current figures.It would begin flowing in October 2008,when American economic aid to Israel is scheduled to end...
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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/world/middleeast/16cnd-israel.html?ex=1344916800&en=ff302f2c1100992f&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
As in the days of Noah....