The deal includes the sale of KC-135 aerial refuelling tankers, anti-air defence missiles and tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey troop transport planes to Israel as well as the sale of 25 F-16 Fighting Falcon jets to the UAE.
A $10bn arms deal is under discussion between the United States and its Arab and Israeli allies that will send a "very clear signal" to Iran, Chuck Hagel, the US defence secretary, has said.
Hagel, who is on his first visit to Israel as Pentagon chief, said on Sunday the US is committed to providing Israel's military with an advantage.
"The bottom line is that Iran is a threat, a real threat," Hagel said. "The Iranians must be prevented from developing that capacity to build a nuclear weapon and deliver it."
The first stop on Hagel's week-long Middle East trip came two days after the Pentagon said it was finalising a weapons deal to strengthen the militaries of Israel and two of Iran's key rivals, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Al Jazeera's correspondent Simon McGregor-Wood, reporting from Jerusalem, said Hagel's visit was an opportunity to put controversies of the past behind, such as his earlier comments on Israel which affected his confirmation.
Source: Aljazeera 4/22/2013
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