Congress has been informed by the State Department that “current estimates indicate” the relocation of Israeli air bases to the Negev Desert from the Sinai will cost slightly over one billion dollars.
Rep. Lee Hamilton (D. Ind.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee for the Mideast, has disclosed that the estimated cost is $1.4 billion and not the previously estimated cost of $1.5 billion.
The U.S. government has pledged $800 million in grants towards the cost of the air bases. The figures were reported in a letter to Hamilton from J. Brian Atwood, Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations, who reported that the cost between the U.S. grant and the actual cost will be borne by the government of Israel.
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