Clinton vows closer cooperation with Israel if elected president

Rasa - US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has pledged to have closer military and intelligence cooperation with Israel if she is elected president.

News ID: 423386

Date: 09 September 2016 - 23:29

RNA - The former secretary of state made the remarks in an interview with an Israeli TV channel on Thursday, saying if elected to the White House, she would work with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure the preservation of Tel Aviv’s qualitative military edge.

“Shortly after being inaugurated, I would invite the prime minister to Washington for meetings, I would send my joint chiefs and intelligence experts to Israel to meet with their counterparts,” said Clinton.

“What we need to do first and foremost (is) to be sure that qualitative military edge is unmatched,” she added.

The comments were made as the US and the Israeli regime have for several months been negotiating the terms of a new 10-year military pact to replace the current one, which is worth more than 3 billion dollars per year and expires in 2018.

Washington has been providing Tel Aviv with $3.1 billion annually since a 2007 agreement with former president George W. Bush's administration.

Israel has indicated that it wants $5 billion in annual military aid to fund its missile projects, but US officials have offered a lower figure of about $3.7 billion.

Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign assistance since World War II. America's military assistance to Israel has amounted to $124.3 billion since it began in 1962, according to a recent congressional report.

During the interview, the Democratic presidential nominee also took a swipe at her Republican rival, Donald Trump, saying the prospect of an election victory for the New York businessman should alarm all Israelis regardless of their political views.

Clinton pointed out to the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group which is operating in Syria next door to Israel, saying the Takfiri group is “rooting for Donald Trump’s victory” and that terrorists are praying for Trump to be "president of America.”

Clinton also said she was far better placed to deal with the conflict in Syria, given her track record as secretary of state.

Daesh terrorists were first trained by the CIA and are fighting a proxy war on behalf of Washington to overthrow the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

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