Netanyahu, Facing Trump or Clinton, Urged to Take Obama Aid
Source: Bloomberg
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and his aides are watching the U.S. election with confusion and concern, unsure of Donald Trump and uneasy over Hillary Clinton. Some advisers are therefore urging him to seal a military aid package with someone he has long mistrusted -- President Barack Obama.
“It should be tied up now,” says Zalman Shoval, Netanyahu’s former ambassador to Washington, leader of a group of retired diplomats who advise the government on the U.S.-Israel relationship. “It is risky for Israel to let the existing agreement run out without knowing the drift of the future administration.”
Israel is the biggest recipient of U.S. foreign aid, $3.1 billion in 2016. Having failed to persuade the U.S. not to sign a nuclear deal with Iran last year, it is asking for an increase -- as much as $5 billion a year for the next 10 years -- to help it counter Iranian missiles, Iranian-backed militants in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, and affiliates of al-Qaeda and Islamic State in Syria and Egypt. The White House is offering something under $4 billion, according to officials in both countries.
The question Netanyahu and his advisers are mulling is whether a better deal could be negotiated with Obama’s replacement. Many suspect not, although none would say so on the record. David Keyes, a spokesman, declined all comment.
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-06-14/netanyahu-urged-by-some-advisers-to-cut-military-deal-with-obama
= new reply since forum marked as read
