ABSTRACT
Ever since the signing of the US-Israeli Free Trade Agreement in 1985, trade has supplanted aid, becoming the central feature of the US-Israeli economic relationship. Since Israel's independence, there have been four stages of increased US aid both to Israel and to the region in general. The first increase occurred between 1967 and 1972, the second in 1973–1974, the third in 1980–1981, and the fourth in 1984–1985. Although Israel received US loans for economic aid, the country's main supplier of advanced military equipment and technology at the time was France. The US withdrawal from Vietnam, US foreign aid to the region dramatically increased; the Middle East became the main battlefield during the Cold War, with Israel receiving $2.7 billion in military aid. Israel enjoys a number of special benefits from the US government. The United States and Israel reached an understanding on several long-standing issues concerning Israel's intellectual property rights policies for pharmaceutical products.
