Obama will not cut Bush $30 billion in military aid to Israel

Report: Obama will not cut military aid to Israel

Date: 11 / 03 / 2009 Time: 18:44
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies –

US President Barack Obama will not reduce the billions of dollars of military aid promised to Israel, according to a senior American official.

The administration official told Israel Radio, speaking anonymously, that a previously agreed 30 billion US dollar aid package will not be altered.

The increased military aid was promised to outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert by then-under secretary of state for political affairs Nicholas Burns in August 2007.

The US is Israel’s main military and economic backer. The US’ unwillingness to impose conditions on its support to Israel is seen in the Middle East as an obstacle to peace.

Israel Radio also quoted the official as saying that if Hamas joins a Palestinian unity cabinet but does not accept the conditions of the International Quartet (the US, EU, UN, and Russia) the Obama Administration would not recognize that government.

Hamas is currently engaged in talks in Cairo with Fatah and other Palestinian factions in an effort to end nearly two years of political division. Hamas won internationally-supervised parliamentary elections in 2006 and later formed a unity government with Fatah. The Quartet and Israel shunned this government, cutting off millions in aid.

The US official also reportedly said that Obama expects incoming Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue peace talks with the Palestinians. The charter of Netanyahu’s Likud party opposes the creation of any Palestinian state and calls for Israel to hold on to all of its occupied territories.

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