Talks on US Defense Aid to Israel Resume Despite Iran Deal Controversy

Israel and the United States have resumed their talks on military aid to Tel Aviv suspended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer said Sunday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The sides have been negotiating the extension of the $30-billion military aid package for period from 2009 to 2018 agreed by the Bush Administration and the Israeli government in 2007 until June, when Netanyahu halted the talks ahead of the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 group of international negotiators.

“Discussions over a new Memorandum of Understanding between Israel and the United States, which had been on hold for some time, resumed this past week in Washington,” the envoy said in a Facebook post.

He added that “with the nuclear deal now moving ahead, Israel is also moving ahead, hoping to forge a common policy with the United States to address the continuing dangers posed by Iran.”

Israel's leadership has long opposed the agreement between the P5+1 group and Iran, warning that the concessions offered to Tehran by the six world powers endanger stability in the Middle East.

According to Dermer, the sides will continue to discuss “ways to bolster Israel’s security and ensure Israel’s qualitative military edge” during visits of Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford to Israel next week, Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon to Washington in late October and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Washington on November 9.