WarSclerotic

A bipartisan bill that would cement the U.S. military aid to Israel into law has passed a major hurdle on Wednesday night.

The U.S. House of Representative approved the measure, known as the Ileana Ros-Lehtinen U.S.-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2018, several weeks after it passed the Senate. It will now head toward the president’s desk.

Under the proposed legislation, the $38 billion in military aid over 10 years spelled out under the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding, would be funded through a special mechanism that would be separate from the annual budget.

The bill would also give Israel increased access to sophisticated U.S. technology to ensure it maintains its qualitative edge in the region through the U.S. war reserve stockpile in Israel, which Israeli forces can use under certain conditions.

It also authorizes the president to bolster the stockpile with $1 billion worth of weaponry, as well as with precision-guided munitions to use against Hezbollah. The bill further allows the president to establish a collaborative U.S.-Israel counterdrone program.

The law ensures that U.S. aid would not be cut so long as the memorandum comes into effect starting in 2019, ensuring that the funds would not be influenced by the budget wars Congress and the White House have. It also means that presidents would not be able to suspend U.S. aid as a means of pressuring Israel.

“With this measure, we are codifying the assistance levels in the latest 10-year U.S.-Israel memorandum of understanding, which aims to strengthen our already robust relationship, especially on defense matters,” Chairman of the House’s Foreign Affairs Committee Ed Royce (R-Calif.) said on Wednesday. “This bill also works to build on the United States’ and Israel’s successful history of cooperation on technology development.”

The American-Israel Public Affairs Committee praised the House for following in the Senate’s footsteps, saying it “applauds the U.S. House of Representatives for adopting the Ileana Ros-Lehtinen U.S.-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2018.”

According to AIPAC, “This key legislation seeks to ensure that Israel has the means to defend itself, by itself, against growing threats – most significantly Iran’s presence on its northern border. This bipartisan bill authorizes agreed-upon increases in Israel’s security assistance. It encourages expanding U.S. weapons stockpiles in Israel and advancing U.S.-Israel cooperation in anti-drone technologies and space.”

Saudi Arabia has procured an Israeli-made Iron Dome ‎defense system, the Persian Gulf-based ‎Alkhaleej Online ‎website reported Thursday, saying ‎‎the deal marks another step in the warming ties ‎‎between Jerusalem and Riyadh.‎

Iron Dome is designed to intercept and destroy ‎‎short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from ‎‎distances of 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) to 70 ‎‎kilometers (43 miles).‎

The system was developed by Rafael Advanced Defense ‎Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, and has ‎been sold to several other countries, including ‎Azerbaijan, India and Romania.‎

Israel and Saudi Arabia do not maintain formal ‎diplomatic ties and the Saudis have so far refrained from ‎pursuing arms deals with Israel to avoid criticism ‎in the Arab world. ‎

According to the report, the deal will be brokered ‎‎by a third party, most likely the United States, to ‎‎spare Saudi Arabia ‎such criticism. ‎

Saudi sources told the website that the sale was the ‎result of understandings reached between it and Israel and ‎that their clandestine ties have ‎fostered sufficient trust to pursue an arms deal of ‎this kind. ‎

Alkhaleej Online ‎reported that initially, Israel had ‎‎refused to sell Iron Dome to the Saudis, saying that ‎any such sale to an Arab nation would “seriously ‎compromise Israel’s security and regional ‎interests.”‎

Washington played a key role in mediating the sale ‎‎through a series of secret meetings, overcoming ‎Israel’s initial objections, the report ‎said. ‎

“Saudi Arabia will pay Israel tens of millions of ‎dollars for the Iron Dome defense system. There is a ‎commitment that the deal will be carried out via ‎U.S. mediation, as well as a guarantee that this ‎system will not pose a threat to the security of Israel ‎and its allies in the region,” one diplomatic source ‎told the Gulf website. ‎

According to the report, the deal is expected to be ‎finalized by December.‎

The first Iron Dome battery will most likely be ‎deployed on the Saudi-Yemen border, from where ‎Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have been firing ‎rockets at Saudi forces. ‎

‎”If Iron Dome succeeds in intercepting the rockets ‎that pose a threat to the kingdom, there will be ‎talks with Israel to acquire additional military ‎systems, and this will open the door to military ‎agreements between the two nations,” the diplomatic ‎source said.‎

The United States has issued a fresh warning to airlines to exercise caution when operating in Iran’s airspace, citing concerns over military activity including an unnamed U.S. civil operator being intercepted by fighter jets in December 2017.

The updated guidance from the Federal Aviation Administration to U.S. operators, issued on Sunday at the expiry of the prior year’s advisory, said there were also military activities emanating from or transiting through Iran’s airspace associated with the conflict in Syria.

Tensions ramped up between Iran and the United States after President Donald Trump pulled out of a landmark nuclear deal with Iran in May and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic republic last month.

Flight Service Bureau, which provides safety information on airspace to airlines, said “without seeming alarmist,” that the deteriorating relationship between the U.S. and Iran must be taken into account when planning flights in Iran’s airspace.

“Although the reopening of Iraqi airspace in November last year has provided additional routing options … there is no perfect route in the region, and operators must consider their preference for Iraq vs. Iran,” the U.S. based group said in an email to clients on Monday.

The U.S. State Department advises that its citizens do not travel to Iran due to the risk of arbitrary arrest and detention. Flight Service Bureau said that could present problems in the event of an unplanned landing in Iran for medical or technical reasons.

For Iraq, the U.S. State  Department advises its citizens against travel to the country due to terrorism and armed conflict.

The FAA’s latest guidance on Iraq, issued in December 2017, prohibits U.S. airlines in most cases from flying at an altitude lower than 26,000 feet due to the potential for fighting.