Obama Signs 10-Year $38 Billion Security Assistance MOU

Terms included in the 10-year Memorandum of Understanding to provide Israel with $38 billion security assistance agreed to by President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

• The total value of the new MOU, which covers FY2019- FY2028, is $38 billion ($3.8 billion per year).  It will succeed the current $30 billion MOU signed in 2007, which will expire at the end of FY2018.
• This amount represents a significant increase over the current MOU by every measure, and will enable Israel to acquire additional advanced military capabilities from the United States. 
• It includes $33 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) funds and an unprecedented $5 billion commitment in missile defense assistance.  This funding will be disbursed in equal increments of $3.3 billion in FMF and $500 million in missile defense funding each year for the duration of the understanding.
• In practical terms, the level of funding specified in the MOU will permit Israel to update the lion’s share of its fighter aircraft fleet -  including through the acquisition of additional F-35s - increase its missile defense, and acquire other defense capabilities needed to meet its threat environment. 
• The multi-year missile defense commitment in the MOU will greatly facilitate long-term planning rather than missile defense assistance levels continuing to be appropriated year-to-year. 
• The $500 million in annual missile defense funding under the MOU exceeds the average level of non-emergency support the United States has provided to Israel for missile defense over the last five years.
• Moreover, our decision with Israel to discontinue two anomalies in the defense relationship that no longer serve our mutual interests - Off Shore Procurement (the arrangement under the current MOU through which Israel has been uniquely permitted to spend 26.3 percent of its annual FMF package within Israel on non-U.S. products) and Israel’s use of FMF funds to purchase fuel – means that Israel will spend more funding, as much as $1.2 billion per year, on the advanced military capabilities that only the United States can provide.  The acquisition of additional U.S.-produced capabilities and technology provide the best means to ensure Israel preserves its Qualitative Military Edge (QME).

Source: The White House.