Israel, U.S. sign new military aid deal

    JERUSALEM, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Israel and the United States on Thursday inked a new deal whereby Israel will receive 30 billion U.S. dollars of military aid over the next 10 years.

    The agreement was signed by U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns and Israel's Foreign Ministry Director General Aharon Abramovich in Jerusalem.

    Israel will receive the first payout in October 2008, amounting to 2.550 billion dollars. That sum will grow each year by 150million dollars, until it reaches 3.1 billion dollars in 2011,according to the agreement.

    In addition, the agreement permits Israel to convert into shekels 26.3 percent of the aid money, thereby enabling it to procure defense equipment from Israeli companies. The rest of the aid must be used to purchase equipment from American military industries.

    "The United States has an abiding interest in the state of Israel," Burns said before signing the agreement.

    "Given Israel's predicament, living in a region that is very violent and unstable, its military edge is of interest to our country, and we've committed to that," he said.

    Israel is the biggest recipient of U.S. military and economic aid in the Middle East region. Over the past 10 years, Israel had received a total of 24 billion dollars of American aid.