Defense

Israel, US Agree to 10-Year Defense Deal

Israel and the United States have agreed to a ten-year defense deal, the largest and longest such agreement between the two nations.

The agreement will be signed Wednesday at the US Department of State, according to a government news release. No other details have been made public.

The agreement is the follow-on to a $30 billion, 10-year memorandum of understanding signed in 2007.

Defense News first reported over the summer that the latest US offer stands at $3.8 billion annually, which includes some $400 million to be spent in Israel on cooperative missile defense and other pre-agreed joint programs. As a condition of expanding Israel’s top line from $30 billion to $38 billion over the coming ten years, Washington is insisting on removing a 30-year-old privilege whereby Israel is able to convert a significant portion of grant dollars into shekels for local research, development and procurement.