The U.S. and Israel have reached an agreement on a record 10-year, $38 billion U.S. military aid package officials from both countries will sign on Wednesday, according to a State Department announcement and wire reports.
The deal was reached after a rocky 10-month negotiating process that may have been drawn out in light of the sometimes open friction between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over last year’s nuclear deal with Iran.
The State Department announced that a deal had been reached on the pact, formally known as the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Israel.
“The new MOU constitutes the single largest pledge of bilateral military assistance in U.S. history,” the State Department said in a release Tuesday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, White House deputy press secretary Erick Schultz said the U.S. and Israel are in the “final stages” of discussions over the MOU.
“This has been a long and complicated process, but we believe that its one that is worth it because it’s in the interests of both the United States and our greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel, one of our closest allies around the world, to reaffirm our commitment to their security,” Schultz told reporters traveling with Obama to Philadelphia on Air Force One.
The Associated Press reported that U.S. aid under the deal will rise from $3.1 billion per year to $3.8 billion over the 10-year period. But it will require Israel to purchase more and more of its military goods on those made in the U.S.
The AP also said Netanyahu considered the idea of waiting for the next president to strike a deal with the U.S., but that Obama was eager to conclude it before he leaves office.