A State Department spokesman said today that the foreign aid bill passed a year ago contained sufficient funds to supply Israel’s military program for “the next couple of months.” Charles Bray made that observation at today’s news briefing when asked if last Friday’s defeat of the administration’s $3.2 billion foreign aid bill in the Senate would impair the military balance in the Middle East.
Bray said, “for the short term, the next couple of months, probably not.” He was referring to about $500 million in credits for military purchases contained in last year’s aid bill of which an undisclosed portion, believed to be $300 million, was ear-marked for Israel. This sum was in addition to the $500 million in military credits for Israel provided by the amendment by Sen. Henry M. Jackson (D., Wash,) to the 1971 foreign military sales act.
Bray disclosed that in the area of non-military grants, only about $2 million remained in the pipeline for Israel out of past foreign aid measures. These sums are for hospitals, schools and other institutions.
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