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Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, October/November 1997, Pages 20-21 Special Report
Congress and the Pentagon Add $464 Million in Aid to Israel for 1998
By Shawn L. TwingCongress added nearly $150 million to the 1998 Defense Authorization Act, the bill that sets spending limits for the U.S. Department of Defense, for Israeli-produced or co-produced military products and joint U.S.-Israeli "strategic cooperation" during recent committee meetings in the House and Senate. This extra money is in addition to $68.1 million already requested by the Pentagon for two U.S.-Israeli programs (the Arrow missile and Tactical High Energy Laser) and $250 million in U.S. military hardware that is to be stored in Israel ostensibly for U.S. use, but in reality as an emergency stockpile for Israel's military. The House, for example, recently passed HR1119, the Defense Department Authorization bill for fiscal year 1998, and included an additional $81 million for the purchase of Israeli-produced or co-produced defense products that the Pentagon did not ask for, broken down as follows: * $39 million for 50 AGM-142 HAVE NAP missiles. These missiles, designated "Popeye" by their Israeli manufacturer, Rafael Armaments Company, were not requested by the Pentagon. Last year the 104th Congress also added $39 million for 50 AGM-142 HAVE NAP missiles, and the year before the 103rd Congress added $39 million for 50 of the missiles. Every one of these annual appropriations was imposed by Congress despite the fact that the Pentagon did not request them. * $20 million for reactive armor tiles to retrofit M113 armored personnel carriers. This money, part of an extra $53 million added to the program beyond that requested by the Pentagon to upgrade the aging fleet of M113s, is in addition to $14 million added to the fiscal year 1996 Defense Authorization Act by the 103rd Congress for the purchase of similar Israeli co-produced (with Lockheed Martin) reactive armor tiles. * $22 million to outfit U.S. Air Reserve and Air National Guard F-16 aircraft with Israel's Litening navigation and targeting pod. This addition, again not requested by the Pentagon, is particularly irksome because there is a superior American-produced system that fulfills the same functions as Litening, and may very well be the technological parent of Israel's Litening system. Bethesda, MD-based Lockheed Martin makes the LANTIRN (low-altitude navigation and targeting for night) system that is technologically superior to Litening, is produced by Lockheed Martin's Electronics and Missiles division in Orlando, FL, and already equips a significant number of U.S. aircraft, providing them with all-weather, around-the-clock navigation and targeting capabilities. The Senate's Armed Services Committee also added $65 million more to the Defense Authorization Act for 1998 beyond money previously added by the House. This additional funding breaks down as follows: * $15 million for Israel's Arrow anti-tactical ballistic missile (similar in function to the Patriot missile of Gulf war fame), in addition to the $38.7 million already requested by the Pentagon for the Arrow program. Since the Arrow's inception in 1988 the United States has funded in excess of $650 million for the missile that Pentagon officials repeatedly have said they have no intention of buying because it does not meet U.S. operational requirements. This year, however, the United States will give Israel $53.7 million for the Arrow if the Defense Department Authorization Act passes as it currently is written. * $45 million for the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL), formerly the Nautilus laser program, in addition to the $16.5 million originally requested by the Pentagon. According to recent statements by Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai, Israel hopes to deploy lasers on its northern border with Lebanon by the end of 1998 to shoot down Hezbollah Katyusha rockets launched into both northern Israel and Israel's self-imposed "security zone" in southern Lebanon. This year's total funding, $60 million, is in addition to $50 million appropriated for the Nautilus last year by the 104th Congress, and $5 million in 1996 by the 103rd Congress. The Pentagon, however, has not defined an operational need for the THEL system and was on the verge of canceling it in 1996. * $5 million for the Boost Phase Intercept (BPI) program. The secretive U.S.-Israel BPI program studies the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) armed with air-to-air missiles to shoot down ballistic missiles in the early stages of flight immediately after launch (the boost phase) while they are still over enemy territory. The Pentagon requested $12.9 million for the program this year. Last year the 104th Congress appropriated $24.3 million for BPI research, even though the Pentagon asked for only $9.3 million for BPI. Israel's new emergency stockpile of U.S. weaponry, which is in addition to $400 million in U.S. equipment already prepositioned in Israel (which also is available for Israel's use), resulted from Israeli Defense Minister Mordechai's April visit to the United States (see the June/July 1997 Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, pp. 21 and 93). Initially the plan was to keep the new equipment in the United States but available for Israel's use within 36 hours, but that plan may not have been possible logistically given current U.S. airlift capabilities. Eventually it was replaced by an arrangement to preposition $200 million worth of heavy equipment, selected by Israel, in Israeli warehouses, with an additional $50 million in easily transported equipment available from the United States within 72 hours, the trade weekly Defense News reported in July. Explaining the importance of that agreement to Israel, Defense News staff writer Barbara Opall wrote: "Although equipment destined for Israel remains the property of the Pentagon for support of U.S. forces, officials from both sides acknowledge the prepositioning package essentially amounts to an increase in the $1.8 billion assistance Israel receives each year from Washington." Opall also went on to cite an unnamed U.S. official who expressed the dissatisfaction of commanders in charge of U.S. forces in Europe and the Middle East who "were not pleased by the diversion to Israel of war reserves that could have been used for U.S. contingency operations elsewhere around the globe." Congress's and the Pentagon's addition of more than $460 million in aid for Israel beyond the $3.1 billion in aid Israel receives annually from the foreign aid budget of the Department of State isn't the only news in Washington and Tel Aviv. According to two articles appearing in the July 14-20 Defense News, Israel may try to buy large quantities of advanced U.S. weaponry—particularly the AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter and either F-16 or F-15E aircraft—in a large-scale scheme to purchase equipment now and pay for it over several years, with U.S. foreign military aid to Israel through fiscal year 2006 as collateral. The obvious problem with this arrangement, however, is that aid to Israel is not supposed to be guaranteed beyond the pending legislation for next year, which is fiscal year 1998. Israeli officials and their lobbyists in Washington, DC, however, appear confident that U.S. military aid to Israel will continue indefinitely, or at least well into the next millennium. Aside from the obvious desire to acquire advanced combat aircraft, there is another underlying strategic function Israel hopes to gain from this new funding scheme. Because these billion-dollar purchases of helicopters and jets will bring substantial revenues to Lockheed Martin and McDonnell Douglas, Israel hopes to enlist their help to continue lobbying for U.S. foreign military aid to Israel. Until Israel pays off these multi-year contracts, which as projected could be 2006, it is only logical that these two American defense giants will support continued U.S. aid to Israel, even if the administration or Congress eventually decides to reduce or suspend it because of policy differences or taxpayer pressure. Israeli officials undoubtedly hope that their new multi-year funding scheme will give Lockheed Martin and McDonnell Douglas a vested interest in continuing U.S. aid to Israel. In exchange, Israel will receive some of the most technologically advanced combat systems in the world, all thanks to the American taxpayer. X U.S. Grants to Israel in FY 1997 (in millions) From FY '97 foreign aid budget Total FY 1997 grants................. $3,525.8 Interest paid and charges incurred by U.S. loan guarantees for Israel Total 1997 grants, interest, and loan guarantees for Israel....... $5,675,800,000
PROPOSED AID FOR ISRAEL, FISCAL YEAR 1998 State Department Foreign Aid Budget 1. Economic Support Funds $1.2 billion 2. Foreign Military Sales $1.8 billion 3. Refugee Resettlement $80 million Total: $3.08 billion
Pentagon Requests for U.S.-Israeli Projects and Military Stockpile in Israel: 1. Arrow Anti-Tactical Ballistic Missile Program: $38.7 million 2. Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) Program: $16.5 million 3. Boost Phase Intercept (BPI) Program: $12.9 million 4. Military Stockpile for Israel's Use: $250 million Total: $318.1 million
House Additions to 1998 Defense Authorization Act: 1. AGM-142 HAVE-NAP missiles: $39 million 2. Reactive Armor Tiles: $20 million 3. Litening Targeting and Navigation Pod: $22 million Total: $81 million
Senate Additions to 1998 Defense Authorization Act: 1. Extra Funding for Arrow Missile (in addition to Pentagon request): $15 million 2. Extra Funding for Tactical High Energy Laser (in addition to Pentagon request): $45 million 3. Extra Funding for Boost Phase Intercept Program Total: $65 million
TOTAL PROJECTED AID TO ISRAEL FROM STATE DEPARTMENT AND PENTAGON BUDGETS FOR FY '98 ....$3.544 billion
Shawn L. Twing is the news editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. |