United States ups Israeli defence aid to $30bn

Published: July 30, 2007, 12:41 pm

Tags: united states, israeli army, israel

PRIME Minister Ehud Olmert has announced a new $30 billion ($35.2 billion) US defence package to preserve Israel's regional military superiority, as Washington readied an Arab arms deal to counter Iran.The sizeable hike to annual US defence and military aid to its closest Middle East ally was unveiled by the beleaguered Mr Olmert amid reports of a hefty US arms deal with Saudi Arabia, although Israeli politicians dismissed concerns of a new regional arms race."In my last meeting with the president of the United States, we agreed that the aid would stand at $30 billion ($35.2 billion) over the next 10 years, meaning over three billion dollars ($3.5 billion) a year, starting next year,'' Mr Olmert said."This is an increase of over 25 per cent in the military and so called defence aid of the United States to Israel,'' he said, describing the package as a considerable improvement and very important element for national security."Other than the increase in aid, we received an explicit and

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