Congress Backs Aid Increase, Protecting Israel’s Military Edge

10/16/2008

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The House and Senate overwhelmingly passed and sent to President Bush a bill containing critical new provisions aimed at ensuring that Israel has the resources and ability to counter growing threats.

Congress approved provisions, contained in a larger piece of legislation, strongly backing the 2007 U.S.-Israeli agreement that seeks to boost American security assistance to the Jewish state during the next decade. The agreement, or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), calls for the United States to provide Israel with $30 billion in security assistance during the next 10 years, including $2.55 during fiscal year 2009. The legislation supports the MOU and authorizes the $2.55 billion in security assistance as called for in the first year of the plan. 

The MOU, signed by then-Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns and Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, notes that foreign aid enhances the “political, security and economic interests of both countries” and that the two nations “intend to continue their active dialogue on security and economic policy in existing bilateral committees.” 

The legislation also included a new mandate aimed at ensuring Israel’s qualitative military edge (QME)—defined for the first time by Congress as Israel’s “ability to counter and defeat any credible conventional military threat from any individual state or possible coalition of states or from non-state actors.” The Israel provisions were spearheaded by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) and Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL).

The legislation also mandates a presidential review of Israel’s QME, with subsequent reports to Congress, as well as a certification that any proposed sale or export of military weapons or services to the Middle East “will not adversely affect” Israel’s QME. This mandate is critical to continuing Israel’s deterrence in an unstable neighborhood as more sophisticated weapons make their way into the region. 

This new benchmark will give future administrations a guide to determine if proposed military sales to the region will undermine Israel’s military advantage.  •NER•

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