Obama aide: Talks on US defense grants to Israel may resume next month

The United States may resume talks on its defense grants to Israel when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Washington next month, an aide to President Barack Obama said on Thursday.

Israel and the United States had been looking to extend a 10-year aid package worth about $3 billion annually and due to expire in 2017. Netanyahu suspended the talks ahead of the July nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that he opposed. Before the suspension, the two sides were close to a new package of grants worth $3.6 billion to $3.7 billion, U.S. and Israeli officials have said.