Trump will increase Israel military aid — adviser

Donald Trump adviser David Friedman tells Channel 2 news that Israel would receive a better military aid package under a Trump administration than the current deal on the table at the moment.

“Our view is that the aid package to Israel will certainly not go down, it in all likelihood will go up in a materiel amount because Israel must maintain a technological and military superiority within in the region,” he says.

“I can’t give advice on how Israel should bargain and how it should develop its own strategy but certainly the Trump administration is not looking to cut back on foreign aid and will in all likely hood increase it significantly,” he adds.

The US and Israel started negotiating a renewal of the 10-year defense package last summer, shortly after the completion of the Iranian nuclear deal.

The memorandum of understanding, as the aid package is formally known, is one of the underpinnings of the US-Israel relationship, and is likely to encompass some $5 billion in defense assistance during the next 10-year period.

Some have suggested Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wait until after Obama finishes his term to secure the deal in the hope that he could reach a better agreement under a different president.