While most countries that benefit from U.S. help will have to wait for their annual aid installment until the fiscal 2009 appropriations process plays out, the newly enacted war supplemental provides a significant boost in military financing for Israel.

The bill, which President Bush signed on Monday, provides Israel $170 million in fiscal 2009 foreign military financing and requires that the money be spent by Nov. 1, 2008 — in other words, within one month of the start of the fiscal year.

The money allows Israel and the United States to stay on track to meet a 10-year, $30 billion security agreement that the two countries signed last August.

House leaders added the money to the supplemental as a precaution: If the regular 2009 appropriations process breaks down and the government gets funded at 2008 levels by a long-term stopgap measure, the new funds will make up the difference between the $2.38 billion that Congress provided in 2008 and the $2.55 billion the agreement calls for in 2009.

Under the agreement, foreign military financing for Israel would increase to $2.78 billion in fiscal 2010, $3 billion in fiscal 2011, $3.08 billion in fiscal 2012 and $3.1 billion for each year after that through 2018.

“The U.S. commitment to maintaining Israel’s qualitative military edge is the cornerstone of American policy in the region,” said the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in a statement. “This year’s package holds heightened significance for U.S. security interests, as the U.S and Israel face new challenges from Iran’s drive to acquire nuclear weapons as well as the growing influence of radical anti-western forces to Israel’s south in Gaza and to the north in Lebanon.”

Overall, the supplemental contains $440 million for the military financing program. The other recipients include Mexico ($116.5 million) and Jordan ($117 million).