Trump adviser says Israel should wait to sign military deal when he is president

I-24NEWS – Trump has previously said that Israel should foot the bill for the defense aid it receives from the US

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should hold off on signing a deal for a new US military aid package to Israel until Donald Trump is president, according to one of the Republican candidate’s senior advisers.

David Friedman, in a Channel 2interview cited by the Times of Israel, said that a military deal under Trump would be better for Israel and help Israel maintain its qualitative edge over other countries in the region. Trump would “in all likelihood increase [military aid] significantly,” Friedman told Channel 2.

“The aid package will certainly not go down… because Israel must Israel must maintain a technological and military superiority within the region,” he continued.

“I can’t give advice how Israel should bargain and develop its own strategy,” he added.

Trump has previously called for scaling down the level of the US’s defense aid to its allies, even saying back in March that Israel should foot the bill for the military aid it receives from Washington.

Reports coming out of the US capital over the past few days that the new 10-year military aid package is nearing completion after a tortuous, stuttering year of negotiations.

A meeting between new Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and his US counterpart Ashton Carter on Monday reportedly went well, and the pair “reaffirmed the strength of the US-Israeli defense relationship and the United States’ unwavering commitment to Israel’s security,” according to a Pentagon press release.

Israel is hoping to secure an aid package worth $50 billion over the decade.