US State Department agrees on USD3.3B spending bill for Israel
The national security and State Department funding measure allocates $6.77 billion to the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program. Of that amount, a minimum of $3.3 billion would be issued to Israel as grant assistance, to be transferred within 30 days of the bill’s enactment and designated for the procurement of advanced weapons systems.
Under the bill’s provisions, US security assistance to the West Bank and Gaza would be halted unless the Secretary of State formally confirms to Congress that Palestinians are complying with benchmarks set by Washington and are taking steps to stop alleged “torture” and other misconduct attributed to Palestinian security forces.
The legislation also mandates a cutoff of such assistance if Palestinians launch or actively support cases at the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli nationals over alleged offenses against Palestinians.
In a separate clause, the proposal bars funds appropriated under the “National Security Investment Programs” category from being used to support the Palestinian Authority if Palestinians obtain the “same standing as member states or full membership as a state” at the United Nations outside the context of a negotiated settlement with Israel.
The $3.3 billion in yearly military assistance to Israel falls under a decade-long Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) worth $38 billion that was concluded in 2016 and is scheduled to expire in 2028.
Reports have also indicated that Israel is pursuing a new, longer-term arrangement—potentially spanning 20 years—that could include joint US-Israeli research and development initiatives focused on defense technologies.
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