On the basis continued ties with the US, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks more military aid from the US. Netanyahu meets with President Obama at Washington on Monday to pitch for extension of the US military aid to Israel, which is set to soon expire in 2017.
Currently, Israel receives around $3 billion worth of military aid from the US annually and Netanyahu seeks to increase the military aid from the US to $5 billion annually.
Though the military aid from the US is the primary objective of Netanyahu other issues to be discussed during the meet include, the possible two-state solution to the Israel- Palestine conflict and the steps Israel could take towards it, the Syrian civil war, the implementation of the Iran Nuclear deal and security issues concerning both the states.
The once strong friendship and alliance between the two states has dwindled in the recent past owing to the Iran Nuclear deal, the unrest in the region due to the prolonged Israel- Palestine conflict and other minor policy differences. However Netanyahu appears to be confident about securing the continued military aid which he labels to be in the interest of both the states, though speculators are not so positive about the outcome of the meet.
As a part of the agenda to seek more military aid Israeli officials have provided a list of additions, which include resources to produce new and advanced missile defense systems, they hope to make to the military aid package. In the proposal the aid is said to increase to $50 billion for a decade starting from 2018.
However a spokesperson from Washington has stated that though the military aid was going to be discussed, it is highly unlikely that the US will close any deal as to the next decade due to severe budget cuts within the government. Speculators predict that it is highly unlikely that Washington will grant Israel the increased aid; in fact some of them have gone a step ahead to state that the US might cut down the current aid by a billion dollars. It can also be observed that excessive military spending is highly unpopular amongst the public currently owing to the bleak economic climate. As Netanyahu seeks more military aid from the US, speculators await to see what turn the US- Israel relations will take post the recent strained relations.
