How do the 2016 U.S.–Israel Memorandum of Understanding funding commitments break down year by year and by program (FMF vs. missile defense)?
Executive summary
The 2016 U.S.–Israel Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) commits $38 billion in U.S. security assistance over ten years, structured as $33 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and $5 billion for cooperative missile defense—disbursed as $3.3 billion in FMF and $500 million in missile defense each fiscal year from FY2019 through FY2028 [1] [2] [3]. Congress has codified and supported that baseline FMF level, authorizing “not less than” $3.3 billion annually through 2028 and appropriators have generally matched or exceeded it [4].
1. The headline math — annual and decade totals spelled out
The arithmetic in official documents is simple: the MOU specifies $3.3 billion per year in FMF plus $500 million per year for cooperative missile defense programs, producing an annual package of $3.8 billion and a ten‑year total of $38 billion—$33 billion FMF and $5 billion for missile defense [1] [2] [3]. Multiple authoritative sources restate this split; the White House and State Department fact sheets emphasize the same $3.3B/$0.5B annual division [1] [2], and independent analyses repeat the $38 billion 2019–2028 frame [5] [6].
2. Year‑by‑year breakdown: flat profile, FY2019–FY2028
Under the MOU the program-level breakdown is flat across fiscal years: for each fiscal year from 2019 through 2028 the United States is to provide $3.3 billion in FMF and $500 million in missile defense cooperative programs, meaning each year carries the identical program split rather than a ramped schedule [2] [1]. The Congressional Research Service and later summaries treat the MOU as covering FY2019–FY2028 with those annual amounts as the baseline for presidential requests and Congressional appropriation decisions [4] [7].
3. How “FMF” and “missile defense” differ in practice under the MOU
FMF under the agreement is grant funding intended primarily to enable Israel to purchase U.S. defense articles and services—hence the $3.3 billion annual FMF floor—while the $500 million missile defense line is earmarked for cooperative programs to develop, produce, and procure missile, rocket, and projectile defense capabilities in partnership with the United States [2] [8]. The MOU also contemplates separate bilateral arrangements for specific missile‑defense projects and clarifies that missile‑defense funds are to be used principally for those purposes [8].
4. Implementation caveats and congressional role
Although the MOU sets the administration’s commitment, the disbursement still depends on annual presidential budget requests and Congressional appropriations; CRS notes that the statute authorizes “not less than” $3.3 billion in FMF through 2028 and that appropriators have generally matched or exceeded that level since enactment [4] [7]. Reporting and analysts also highlight implementation details that affect on‑the‑ground allocations—most notably the phased elimination of Israel’s Off‑Shore Procurement (OSP) privilege for FMF, which shifts how portions of FMF are spent over the decade even as the headline FMF total remains $3.3 billion per year [8] [7].
5. Where reporting diverges and what remains unclear
Most primary sources and policy analyses converge on the annual $3.3B/$0.5B split and $38B total, but differences arise in emphasis: government fact sheets present the package as a stable, annualized commitment [1] [2], while detailed readings by think tanks and the CRS underscore programmatic rules (OSP phase‑out or separate missile‑defense agreements) that influence actual procurement flows [8] [7]. Public sources do not provide a granular year‑by‑year line‑item schedule beyond the uniform annual amounts for FMF and missile defense, so precise fiscal‑year timing of individual missile‑defense projects or any intra‑year reprogramming is not documented in the cited material [2] [8].