U.S. official: More U.S. aid will help Israel make 'tough' decisions
U.S. is confident that Iron Dome will
provide improved defense for the people of Israel, says assistant secretary of
state.
By
Natasha Mozgovaya
An expanded security aid package would
allow Israel to reach tough
decisions in its peace talks with the Palestinians, U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State Andrew J. Shapiro said Friday, adding that
Washington planned to provide Israel with its most extensive security
aid package in history.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State
Andrew J. Shapiro
Photo by: Natasha Mozgovaya
Speaking
at the Brookings Saban Center for Middle East Policy in Washington
D.C., the assistant secretary spoke of the administration's intention
to enhance the annual security aid it provides Israel, saying that in
"2010, the administration requested [from Congress] $2.775 billion in
security assistance funding specifically for Israel, the largest such
request in U.S. history."
Shapiro linked the expanded aid package with the possibility of
furthering peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, saying that it
was the "hope that the administration’s expanded commitment to Israel’s
security will advance the process by helping the Israeli people seize
this opportunity and take the tough decisions necessary for a
comprehensive peace."
"This
Administration believes that pursuing peace between Israel and the
Palestinians, and Israel and its neighbors can be a mutually
reinforcing process," the assistant secretary said, adding that it was
"more essential than ever to make progress on all tracks."
Shapiro
reiterated what he called the U.S. commitment to Israel's security,
saying that "Israel’s right to exist, and to defend itself, is not
questionable. No lasting peace will be possible unless that fact is
accepted."
"Israel
is a vital ally and a cornerstone of our regional security
commitments," Shapiro added, saying that "U.S. support for Israel’s
security is much more than a simple act of friendship."
"We
are fully committed to Israel’s security because it enhances our own
national security and because it helps Israel to take the steps
necessary for peace," the assistant secretary said.
Referring
to the security threats which brought the administration to expand its
aid package, Shapiro said, "Today Israel is facing some of the
toughest challenges in its history," adding that the administration was
"particularly focused on Israel’s security precisely because of the
increasingly complex and severe threats that it faces in the region."
"While
the most grave, the Iranian nuclear program is one of many serious
security threats in the region," Shapiro said at the Saban Center,
saying that "Iran and Syria both pose significant conventional
challenges."
Intersecting
with the threats posed by those countries, the assistant secretary
said, were "the asymmetrical threats posed by Hezbollah and Hamas,
whose rockets indiscriminately target Israeli population centers, and
whose extensive arms smuggling operations, many of which originate in
Tehran and Damascus, weaken regional security and disrupt efforts to
establish lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors."
Shapiro
also detailed the ways in which the United States planned to bolster
Israel's security, which included the sale of the F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter, joint training exercises, research and development, and the
funding of the Iron Dome missile defense system, developed to answer
the threat of short to medium ranged rockets being fired by both Hamas
and Hezbollah.
Anti-missile system Iron Dome, meant to
protect Israeli towns from rocket attacks.
Photo by: Rafael Advanced Defense
Systems LTD.
"Iron
Dome," Shapiro said, "fills a gap in Israel’s multi-tiered defense
system. Israel has conducted thorough tests of Iron Dome components and
we’ve conducted an evaluation of our own. We are confident that Iron
Dome will provide improved defense for the people of Israel."
A
Washington Post report published prior to Shapiro's address that a
high-level exchanges of military and defense officials took place
almost every week.
The
report cited a Pentagon source as saying that more than 75 at the
deputy assistant secretary level or above in the past 15 months.
The
Washington Post also cited Anthony H. Cordesman of the Center for
Strategic and International Studies as saying that an agreement signed
toward the end of the Bush administration meant that almost a quarter
of Israel's actual defense expenditures came from the United States.
Again
referring to the possible effect such military support could have on
future peace talks with the PA, Shapiro said that "bolstering Israel’s
security against the rocket threat will not by itself facilitate a
two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
"Conversely,
a two-state solution will not in and of itself bring an end to these
threats. But our support for Iron Dome and similar efforts do provide
Israel with the capabilities and the confidence that it needs to take
the tough decisions ahead for a comprehensive peace," Shapiro added.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-official-more-u-s-aid-will-help-israel-make-tough-decisions-1.302374
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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