I want to respond to a letter the August edition claiming that “Obama’s military support for Israel exists in words only, not deeds.” President Obama has strengthened Israel’s security in tangible and concrete ways.
Despite tough fiscal times, Obama fought for and secured full funding for Israel in the fiscal year 2011 appropriation bill, which includes $3 billion in Foreign Military Financing — the largest amount of funding for Israel in U.S. history. The U.S. continues to give more foreign aid to Israel than to any other country in the world.
Obama then secured an additional $205 million to help produce an Israeli-developed short-range rocket defense called “Iron Dome,” which has recently helped defend Israeli communities against rocket attacks.
Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu told the conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on May 23 that “Yesterday President Obama spoke about his ironclad commitment to Israel’s security. He rightly said that our security cooperation is unprecedented… And he has backed those words with deeds.”
Obama has expanded U.S.-Israeli security and military cooperation on security challenges ranging from counterterrorism to preventing arms smuggling to Gaza to missile defense.
In 2010, there were nearly 200 senior-level Department of Defense visitors to Israel, and Israeli officials visit the United States just as often.
The United States and Israel conducted their largest-ever joint military exercise, Juniper Cobra, in October 2009. And despite current fears of budget cuts, the U.S. Army and Israel will hold one of the largest joint exercises in the two nations’ history in 2012.
Mequon
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