WASHINGTON, April 8 (Reuters) – Israel, which has received the most U.S. foreign aid since World War II, will receive billions of dollars in military funding in the wake of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. There are growing calls for the U.S. government to attach conditions to this and other aid. Below are details of US support for Israel fighting Hamas militants in Gaza.
What assistance is required by law?
In 2016, the U.S. and Israeli governments signed a third 10-year memorandum of understanding covering the period from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2028. The memorandum provides military aid totaling $38 billion over 10 years. $33 billion in subsidies for military equipment purchases and $5 billion for missile defense systems.
What advanced weapons systems will Israel get?
Israel is the first international operator of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, considered the most technologically advanced fighter jet ever created. Israel is in the process of purchasing 75 F-35s, having received 36 as of last year and paid for them with U.S. aid.
The United States also helped Israel develop and arm the Iron Dome short-range rocket defense system, developed after the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah. The United States has repeatedly sent hundreds of millions of dollars to Israel to help replenish its interceptor missile fleet.
The U.S. government also helped fund the development of Israel’s “David Sling” system, designed to shoot down rockets fired from 100 kilometers to 200 kilometers (62 miles to 124 miles) away. I am doing it.
Could Israel gain more from its campaign against Hamas?
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, seen from Ashkelon, Israel, January 15, 2024. Item 1. Reuters/Amir Cohen/File photo
(1/2) Viewed from Ashkelon, Israel, on January 15, 2024, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas, an Israeli iron bomb intercepts a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip. Dome anti-missile system. Reuters/Amir Cohen/File Photo Purchase License Rights, opens in a new tab
Last year, President Joe Biden asked Congress to approve a $95 billion supplemental spending bill that included $60 billion for Ukraine, as well as $14 billion for Israel, aid for Taiwan, and billions of dollars in humanitarian aid.
The policy passed the Senate with 70% support in February, but has been blocked in the House, where Republican leadership opposed any further funding to Ukraine, leading to a vote on the measure. will not be invited to the meeting. A small number of left-wing Democratic lawmakers oppose further transfers to Israel as it presses ahead with a military operation that has killed more than 30,000 civilians in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian health officials said. It is also facing resistance.
How else is Washington helping Israel?
The United States has long used its veto power on the U.N. Security Council to block resolutions deemed critical of Israel. At the beginning of the six-month war in Gaza, Gaza vetoed measures that included calls for an immediate ceasefire.
At least nine votes are required for a resolution to be passed by the Security Council, and the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China cannot veto it.
Late last month, Washington ended its traditional protections for Israel by abstaining from voting on a resolution calling for a ceasefire in exchange for a veto, although it called the short document “non-binding.”
The US government stands by Israel in other areas as well. Former Republican President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council, the world’s most important human rights body, in protest of criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
It also withdrew from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization under the Trump administration, in part because of what the administration called prejudice against Israel.
President Trump also reversed decades of US policy by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017. Jerusalem’s status as a holy site for Islam, Judaism and Christianity remains one of the biggest obstacles to reaching a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
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Report by Patricia Zengerle. Additional reporting by Mike Stone. Editing: Don Durfee and Bill Berkrot
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