The United States (US) government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding military financing for Israel until 2028.
This is recorded in the report *U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel*, released by the US government's legislative research agency, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), in March 2023.
The CRS report states that the US government has provided aid to Israel since 1948 to the present.
"The US and Israel maintain a strong bilateral relationship due to several factors, such as shared strategic goals in the Middle East, a shared commitment to democratic values, and the historical ties of US support for the establishment of Israel in 1948," said the CRS in its report.
"Almost all US aid to Israel currently consists of military assistance. The US has helped the Israeli armed forces become one of the most technologically advanced militaries in the world," it continued.
The CRS also revealed that since 1999, the US government has signed a "10-Year Security Assistance" MoU for Israel.
This MoU contains an agreement for military financing or "foreign military financing" that is continuously extended and renewed every decade.
For the period 1999-2008, US President Bill Clinton signed an MoU for military financing for Israel totaling US$21.3 billion.
For the period 2009-2018, US President George W. Bush signed a similar agreement worth US$30 billion.
Then, for the period 2019-2028, US President Barack Obama signed a similar agreement worth US$33 billion.
The figures above do not include commitments of funding assistance for Israel's missile defense systems.
"Under the terms of this MoU, the US and Israel are committed to jointly respecting the level of military financing specified in the agreement, and not seeking to change the level of financing during the term of the agreement," said the CRS.
US military financing policies can be in the form of grants or loans. However, the CRS did not detail the type of financing provided to Israel.
In early November 2023, the US government was debating a plan for new aid to Israel, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
"On Thursday, the US House of Representatives passed a US Republican Party plan to provide US$14 billion in aid to Israel. However, the US Democratic Party insisted that the plan would be rejected in the US Senate, and the White House (US President) promised a veto," as reported by Reuters on Friday (November 3, 2023).
According to Reuters, US President Joe Biden will veto the plan because it only provides aid to Israel, without including aid for Ukraine.