Continued Efforts by Republicans to Increase U.S. Military Aid to Israel

Less than a week after the official signing of a "historic" military aid agreement from the U.S. to Israel, four senior Republicans officially submitted a proposal to the U.S. Senate to increase this billion-dollar aid by an additional $1.5 billion. According to a Reuters report citing a press conference by four senior Republican members, namely John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, and Kelly Ayotte, on Tuesday, September 30, Israel will receive an additional $1.5 billion along with the "extension of U.S. sanctions against Iran" under this proposal. Other signatories of this new proposal include Mark Kirk, Marco Rubio, and Roy Blunt. The $38 billion military aid agreement from the U.S. to Israel was finalized on Wednesday, September 24, at the U.S. State Department with the signatures of senior officials from both countries. Barack Obama, the President of the United States, emphasized in a statement following the finalization of this new package that this agreement "demonstrates America's steadfast commitment to supporting Israel's security." This unprecedented ten-year military aid package, described as unparalleled in U.S. history, was finalized after ten months of negotiations and back-and-forth between high-ranking officials from both countries, a lengthy period that analysts say reflects ongoing tensions between Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu. Nevertheless, although Netanyahu's government ultimately agreed to sign this agreement, Republican senators supporting Israel claim that the Obama administration somehow pressured Netanyahu into signing this agreement through the nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic. The efforts of American senators are essentially aimed at granting Israel more aid than it itself has agreed to accept. The senators announced at their press conference on Tuesday that they wish to change a provision of this military agreement that prohibits Israel from receiving additional military aid from Congress. They also object to a provision that requires Israel to return any funds exceeding $3.8 billion per year, if Congress grants such funds. Netanyahu's government has signed off on all these provisions and expressed its consent. Previous agreements allowed Israel to spend more than 26% of U.S. military aid on Israeli military industries, a provision that was changed at the insistence of the Obama administration to ensure that this money goes to American military industries. American Republicans are also opposed to this provision. Israel, which has benefited from U.S. military and civilian aid for decades, will receive this new military aid package for the years 2019 to 2029; the annual figure based on this package will be $3.8 billion. Meanwhile, the new agreement stipulates that if Israel's security faces new threats such as war, additional American aid beyond the stated amount will be injected into the Israeli army. However, Republicans in the U.S. Congress believe that following the signing of the JCPOA, the Islamic Republic will gain access to tens of billions of dollars that were previously blocked abroad and can increase its military capabilities, which poses a danger to Israel.