Washington, June 16 (RHC)-- A U.S. official says the U.S. administration is ready to incorporate missile funds in a decade-long agreement on military aid to Israel.  The U.S. and Israel have been engaged in intense negotiations in recent months to outline U.S. military aid to Israel for the next 10 years.

Washington has been providing the Israeli regime with $3.1 billion annually since a 2007 agreement with the former President George W. Bush's administration.  Tel Aviv has indicated that it wants $4 billion to $4.5 billion in aid to fund its missile projects as part of a new agreement that will go into effect from 2018, but the U.S. officials had offered a lower figure of only about $3.7 billion.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the White House is "prepared to make an unprecedented multi-year missile defense commitment as part of a new memorandum of understanding with Israel on military assistance."

U.S. lawmakers have given up to $600 million to Israel in annual 'discretionary funds' for the regime’s missile program, which is much more than the $150 million requested by the White House.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly seeking to finalize the deal with Barack Obama before the end of his presidency, fearing that his successor would take a different position on the matter.

Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since World War II.  Washington's military assistance to Israel has amounted to $124.3 billion since it began in 1962, according to a recent congressional report.