President Barack Obama signed a defense appropriations bill Dec. 21 that includes $202 million in defense cooperation with Israel.
Because it is not purely assistance, the money in the bill is considered separate from Israel’s defense assistance package, which was in the foreign operations bill also signed in mid-December. The money is considered an investment in systems used by U.S. troops and that are profitable for the U.S. companies involved.
The defense cooperation includes $50 million for further development of the Arrow anti-missile system.
The foreign operations bill brings defense assistance to Israel up to $2.775 billion, which is commensurate with the 2007-2017 plan by President George W. Bush to funnel $30 billion to Israel. — jta