Israel is looking to strike a new 20-year security deal with the U.S. that includes provisions to allay “America First” concerns before the current Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) expires in 2028, Axios reported Thursday.
The current assistance MOU is the third 10-year agreement between the two countries and was originally signed under the Obama administration in 2016. This agreement provides Israel about $4 billion in military aid annually. Under the Biden and Trump administrations, the United States has provided at least $21.7 billion in additional military aid since the start of the Gaza war.
The initial discussions on the deal began in recent weeks, according to two Israeli officials and one U.S. official who spoke to Axios. The Israeli side proposed two changes for the new security agreement, including extending the deal from 10 to 20 years and using some of the funding for joint research and development, instead of merely military aid.
“That could be in the fields of defense tech, defense-related AI, and the Golden Dome missile defense project,” an Israeli official told Axios.
“This is out-of-the-box thinking. We want to change the way we handled past agreements and put more emphasis on U.S.-Israel cooperation. The Americans like this idea,” another Israeli official said.
A 20-year security arrangement would end in 2048, Israel’s 100-year anniversary of independence.
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