July 23, 2009

The advanced planning department had a meeting

IDF Mulls Possible U.S. Aid Halt Effects

Yaakov Katz and Herb Keinon (Jerusalem Post)

Amid growing tension between Jerusalem and Washington, the IDF and the Defense Ministry have held brainstorming sessions to discuss the possibility that the U.S. would cut military aid to Israel.

The discussion came just hours before a State Department spokesman said that it was still "premature" to talk about financial sanctions against Israel for its refusal to freeze settlement construction.

Israeli defense officials said it was possible to interpret the remark as meaning that now it is premature, but that at a later date sanctions might be realistic.


Note to the curious: as much as Israel may appreciate US military aid, the fact is the money must be spent in the USA, which has a significant negative impact on Israel's own arms industry. Personally, I can think of worse things than Israel spending what money it has on Israeli weapons made in Israel.

Posted on 23 July 2009 @ 13:10 GMT