Suspicion has surfaced over the timing of a multi-billion-dollar arms sale to Israel following the country’s tacit agreement to a temporary halt of new settlements in the West Bank.

 

A week after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton worked out a 90-day settlement freeze with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, details arose about the U.S. selling $3 billion in advanced fighter aircraft at a discount to the Jewish state. The deal reportedly involves 20 F-35 stealth planes, which would be sold to Israel with the aid of an American subsidy of an undetermined amount.

 

Phyllis Bennis, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, characterized the arms sale as a “bribe” to gain support from Israeli lawmakers who must agree to the settlement freeze.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Israel to Get Security Guarantees in Return for Freeze (by Mark Landler, New York Times)

Bribing Israel: Enhancing the Swag (by Phyllis Bennis, Huffington Post)