IDF concerned Trump administration may cut defense aid
Slashing multi-billion dollar package by new president would put burden on security capabilities, officer says
Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.
A senior officer in the Israel Defense Forces expressed concerns on Wednesday over possible cuts to the US defense package provided to the Jewish state each year, in light of the election of Donald Trump.
Speaking about belt-tightening measures the army will be putting into place as part of a multi-year program called the Gideon Plan, the officer noted that the army’s planning was to an extent restricted by potential “external” changes, which are out of its control.
Among those possibilities was a decrease in the aid package provided to Israel by the US government as part of the so-called memorandum of understanding between the two countries, the senior officer told reporters.
If President-elect Trump were to make such a cut, the officer said, it would be a burden on Israel’s security capabilities.
Though there is a formal agreement dictating the amount of money given each year — currently $3.3 billion, increasing to $3.8 billion in 2018 — that is not legally binding and can be changed by the US president.
While Trump has said he supports Israel’s security, he has also indicated he will pursue a policy of being more conservative than past administrations in foreign aid disbursements.
“The MOU is an Executive Branch agreement with Israel. That’s all it is,” Benjamin Wittes, an expert on presidential authority and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told The Times of Israel last month. “The next president can do what he wants. He can take it into the bathroom and wipe his ass with it if he feels like it.”
On the campaign trail, Trump said he might force Israel to pay for defense aid, along with other allies like South Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia. “There are many countries that can pay, and they can pay big-league,” Trump said during a press conference.
According to some analysts, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to a more modest aid package from the Obama administration as opposed to waiting until after the November election from fear of the uncertainty of a Trump administration.
A hint of the possible effects of a Trump presidency on Israel’s security capabilities came earlier this week, when the president-elect criticized the F-35 fighter jet program, calling its costs “out of control,” hours before Israel’s first two F-35s were set to arrive.
Since Trump’s election, Netanyahu has expressed only good vibes toward the incoming administration, telling CBS’s 60 Minutes that Trump will be “pro-Israel president.”
“I know Donald Trump. I know him very well…his support for Israel is clear. He feels very warmly about the Jewish state, about the Jewish people and about Jewish people. There’s no question about that,” he said.
Challenges and changes
With the first year of the streamlining Gideon Plan coming to a close, the senior IDF officer said the army is expected to trim some NIS 200 million ($56 million) from its budget annually for the next four years.
That streamlining does not come without costs.
As the IDF noted last month, the decrease in service time for male soldiers from 36 to 32 months has created a shortage of soldiers needed in combat, cyber and technical units.
A further decrease to a 30-month army service, which was approved by a Knesset committee last week, is expected to result in a further reduction in the number of male soldiers serving in the IDF in the coming years.
In order to address some of those deficiencies, the army is considering extending the service for some female soldiers, who currently serve in the IDF for two years, though that measure has thus far been blocked by politicians.
In addition, within the next year, the army will increase the number of soldiers from elite combat units who are able to sign on additional time to their service, as a way to make up the difference.
However, the Gideon Plan is not meant to be solely a cost-cutting endeavor, but is designed to increase the army’s efficiency as well.
As such, the IDF plans to renovate some of its bases, including the training bases for the Givati and Nahal Brigades, as well as the army’s headquarters in Tel Aviv.
The underground command center, known in Hebrew as the bor (literally, the pit), from which the IDF runs its military campaigns and operations, will undergo a large-scale renovation to better protect it from attack in future wars, the officer said.
The Syrian civil war and the Russian presence in Syria continue to present a challenge to Israel’s army, as the uncertainty inherent in the conflict complicates long-term strategic planning efforts, the officer said.
The multiple conflicts throughout the Middle East have sparked a regional arms race, with countries purchasing advanced air defense systems, along with helicopters, submarines and fighter jets — threats for which Israel has yet to properly prepare.
As such, in the next month, the IDF General Staff will begin work crafting a vision for how the army will look in 2030, the officer said.
