The Israel lobby can breathe a sigh of relief now that Congress has agreed to fund the government through next fall, including a record-breaking $3.075 billion in military aid to Israel. This earmark may have emerged unscathed in this year's budget battle, but because the super committee failed to produce a deficit reduction plan, triggering across-the-board budget cuts in 2013, this heretofore sacrosanct and perennially expanding budgetary line-item is suddenly and deservedly on the chopping block.
Budgets are always moral documents and budgetary priorities always reflect trade-offs. With the annual average $3 billion appropriation of U.S. military aid to Israel, the United States could provide instead each year 350,000 low-income families with affordable housing, or 500,000 unemployed workers with green jobs training, or 900,000 at-risk youth with early reading education, or 24 million uninsured people with access to primary health care, according to www.aidtoisrael.org, a project of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.
Despite the deteriorating fiscal position of the United States, military aid to Israel has been increasing and crowding out these more urgent, unmet domestic needs because in 2007 the United States and Israel signed a memorandum of understanding for the United States to provide Israel with $30 billion of taxpayer-financed weapons from 2009 to 2018. This agreement represented an annual average increase of 25 percent above previous levels of military aid to Israel, which even beforehand took the lion's share of U.S. foreign aid despite per capita income greater than New Zealand and Saudi Arabia, according to the International Monetary Fund. The Bush and Obama Administrations faithfully implemented the proposed increases in weapons to Israel in their budget requests to Congress from a baseline of $2.4 billion in FY2008 to $3.075 billion in the FY2012 budget.
President Obama was to have requested $3.1 billion in military aid to Israel in his FY2013 budget, the level at which weapons to Israel was expected to plateau until the memorandum expires fives years hence. However, it appears these projected increases in aid to Israel will not be immune from the ramifications of the super committee debacle. According to Nathan Guttman, writing in the Jewish Daily Forward, Israel will lose an estimated $250 million yearly from its military aid package when across-the-board budget cuts take effect.
Surprisingly, Guttman notes, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the most influential of the organizations within the Israel lobby, has yet to publicly protest the upcoming cuts in military aid to Israel, because it "may fear a backlash if Israel is singled out for special treatment in the face of broad cuts favored by both Democrats and Republicans." This despite the fact that the lobbying outfit's primary purpose is to advocate for additional weapons to Israel, one of the central reasons its tax-exempt front group, the American Israel Education Foundation, led a record-breaking delegation of 81 Members of Congress to Israel this August.
Questioning military aid to Israel has long been a taboo topic in U.S. politics, a third rail issue even more electric than abortion and guns. Led by a cadre of Congressional true believers and backed by the fearsome power of the Israel lobby to reward acquiescence and punish deviance, Congress has, for the most part, unquestioningly toed the line that saturating Israel with weapons will conjure up peace. Those few in Congress who have raised doubts about this received wisdom have tended toward the feather tips of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party or the libertarian wing of the Republican Party.
The across-the-board budget cuts that will affect future levels of U.S. military aid to Israel should allow Members of Congress to reexamine this policy more broadly in an atmosphere devoid of the usual ideological cant of zealots and the menacing glare of AIPAC if it continues to sit out this battle.
Such a review is long overdue since providing Israel with taxpayer-funded weapons is a policy that the United States cannot afford, either morally, politically, or financially. From 2000-2009, the United States gave Israel more than $24 billion in military aid, from which the United States licensed, paid for, and delivered more than 670 million weapons valued at nearly $19 billion. (The remaining money was gobbled up by Israel's own weapons industry due to a unique budgetary provision that allows Israel to spend up to 26 percent of its U.S. military aid domestically.)
During this same period, Israel killed at least 2,969 unarmed Palestinian civilians, according to the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, while enforcing its illegal 44-year military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip. The extensive databases at weaponstoisrael.org, a project of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, make clear that by providing Israel with hundreds of categories of weapons, the United States is intimately and intricately connected to every Israeli military action in some fashion.
Not only does U.S. military aid to Israel make the average taxpayer complicit in Israel's human rights abuses committed against Palestinians; it also serves as a perverse disincentive to the attainment of U.S. policy goals such as ending Israeli settlement expansion, loosening the blockade of Gaza, and establishing a Palestinian state.
With the super committee's failure necessitating cuts across-the-board to reduce the deficit, Israel and its supporters in Congress should be forced to share the pain. Israel's impending loss of $250 million per year in military aid should also open up a conversation about ending all U.S. military to Israel at least until it complies with its obligations under international law to end its illegal military occupation of Palestinian territory.
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Israeli PM Netanyahu's unguarded talk on video: How I destroyed the Oslo Accords, and how easily Americans are manipulated
http://crooksandliars.com/ian-welsh/israeli-pm-natanyahu-america-easily-move
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4165744,00.html
And, from another source: "Since 1949, Congress has distributed over $1.036 trillion in U.S. aid to Israel." Much of that, of course, was redistributed to Palestinians in the form of fighter jets, helicopters, tanks, drones, warships and ammunition.
http://wrmea.org/component/content/article/245-2008-november/3845-congress-watch-a-conservative-estimate-of-total-direct-us-aid-to-israel-almost-114-billion.htm/
You can do the arithmetic.
But only in support of its solid ally, the Jews in Israel is their a fuss created
Double standards anyone?
And we were "saving Muslims" in Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan? Weren't we also killing Muslims?
So, speaking of solid allies, how did Israel help the US in Iraq, Libya, Iran or Afghanistan?
And do you really believe that $29 Billion over nine years is just a "fuss" when it's used almost exclusively to control a civilian population?
How about by not getting involved physically? And why would Israel get involved in Libya? Did America send troops to Israel in her war with Lebanon?
From the creation of Israel and through the cold war Israel was our friend and sided with us, even before we gave them weapons or any major aid. While all the Arab countries sided with Russia before and during the cold war. We remember our only true friend in the Middle East and the only real democracy.
In the midst of a radical Moslem section of the world whom we can never trust any of those countries, it's important to have a true friend, who always sides with us unlike those who calibrated 9/11 and is powerful in military strength, most advanced in education and science
- it was Soviet Union, not Russia;
- weapons from Czechoslovakia were not a present from Uncle Joe/Stalin but were Czech built ME-109 fighters that Israel bought and flew through Yugoslavia just in time. Note that US strictly observed UN arms embargo, at least in regard to weapons shipment to Israel, so that only three B-17 were obtained.
- There are speculations that leaders of the Yishuv, being dedicated Socialists they all were, discussed idea of offering Haifa as naval base for Soviet Black Sea Fleet.
- Cooling off between USSR and Israel was, IMO, not because Israel took path of democracy but more because anti-Semitism unleashed by Stalin (Solomon Mikhoels been murdered, Jewish Antifascist Committee disbanded and leaders arrested, political campaign against so-called Cosmopolitanism).
- America played against Israel during Suez crisis in 1956. Relationship and cooperation between Israel and France were by far closer than between Israel and USA until mid-1960s.
We trust Saudi Arabia and Egypt enough to sell them huge quantities of military equipment -- with Israeli's blessing. You're attempting to break this down on religious or racial presumptions and it's not working.
The US-Israel "relationship" variously described as "unbreakable" or "special" or some such other sycophantic term is not an equal “relationship”, but US lap-dog status to Israeli expansionist policies, via subversion by rabid Israeli supporters/agents in the US, increasingly and disturbingly in the US Congress, & our complicity to Israeli violations of International & Human Rights Law, UN Charter, & Geneva Conventions. Our national interests, political, national sovereignty, & foreign policy decisions are made based on Israel’s extremist desires, intentions & pressure; a reality that no other nation on Earth would tolerate; why do we?
http://www.wrmea.org/special-topics/9748-us-aid-to-israel.html
http://www.ifamericaknew.org/stats/usaid.html
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/john-mearsheimer/the-israel-lobby
US aid is usually stated as about $3 billion annually (over $8 million daily!), but the true total is MUCH higher, over $5 billion annually when all is counted, including "forgiven loans” never expected or required to be repaid by Israel. The US gives more “aid” to an Israeli citizen than an average US citizens in a given year!
“In addition to $3 billion in direct aid, Israel usually gets another $3 billion or so in indirect aid: military support from the defense budget, forgiven loans, and special grants. While some of the aid is difficult to measure precisely, it is safe to say that Israel’s total aid (direct and indirect) amounts to at least $5 billion annually”.
http://www.wrmea.com/component/content/article/10866.html
If that were the case we would never have supported Britain and France in WWII. The US does not abandon an ally for any reason.
Mus.lim extremists would at.tack us no matter what we do. They at.tack Muslims of different sects, too. Look at how Christians are treated in Pakistan, Iran, or Egypt. Is that because of Israel too?
How about the Kurds? Israel's fault? Isl.amic ter.rorism in Russia? Is it because Russia supports Israel? Shiite at.tacks on Sunnis? Because of Israel? Sunni at.tacks on Shiites? Again, because of Israel? The Mubai at.tacks? Because of India's close relationship with Israel?
You tend to blame Israel for what the Mus.lim extremists do, but they have been doing this kind of thing for much longer than Israel has been in existance. Who's fault was it then?
Really? So, becuase China and the Soviet Unioin were allies of the United States in WWII, they have always been and will always be allies of the United States? Even during the Cold War? Even after the USSR collapsed, the USA is still an ally of that defunct entity?
That's just silly.
It was estimated that Israel cost the Palestinian economy approx $7 billion in 2010.
Most of the money lost was from Israel stealing Palestinian natural resources such as minerals, water, mining and quarrying.
Estimated by who?? During the 90's as a result of the Oslo agreement the Palestinian's economy was burning hot. Tens of thousands of Palestinians had jobs inside Israel, and droves of Israelis consumers spent Millions in the West Bank. Things got so good Yasser Araffat decided to stop it. He needed the Palestinians as victims not a flourishing society, so he started a vicious suicide campaign.... the rest is history.
Stop your whining, people who self distract has nobody to blame but themselves.
Hmmm, are you trying to somehow argue that decades of brutal Israeli occupation which has resulted in massive Palestinian civilian casualties, the destruction of Palestinian houses, farmland and infrastructure, the theft of their land and natural resources etc is somehow 'good' for the Palestinian People from an 'economic perspective'?!!
What good is it if you have a few shekels in your pocket if you don't have your basic freedom?
http://www.whoprofits.org/
Jordan isn't the one complaining though. The Palestinians, who Jordan kicked out in '70 (Black September), are complaining about the loss of something they never controlled. Israel has never said they would allow the palestinians to have the entire WB either.
So just what brutal occupation are you talking about? How Hamas took over Gaza, mur.dering or arresting the members of Fatah? Now that's a brutal occupation.
Hamas doesn't control the air space above Gaza Israel does.
Hamas doesn't control the coastal waters off Gaza Israel does.
Hamas doesn't control commercial imports/exports into Gaza Israel does.
Hamas doesn't control the 'buffer zone' inside Gaza Israel does.
etc
To claim "Gaza is controlled 100% by Hamas" is just plain silly.
Here we are arming a country to the teeth that is an ethnocracy with theocratic implications?
The least we could do is ask them to end the illegal occupation of the West Bank and amoral blockade of Gaza. They thank us by insulting our leaders and interference in our politics, trying to influence our elections on behalf of the very right-wing politicians who are making our government dysfunctional as I write.
Truth is we have sponsored their expansion and settlement in a great number of ways. They don't care if we neglect our citizens and hold world peace hostage to their sick charade of negotiation avoidance. The thing that chaps my fanny the most is right-wing Israelis just don't give a damn about the rest of us, and still we send the money!
taking lots of money from Israeli lobby.
"U.S. military aid has helped transform Israel’s armed forces into one of the most
technologically sophisticated militaries in the world. U.S. military aid for Israel has
been designed to maintain Israel’s qualitative edge over neighboring militaries, since
Israel must rely on better equipment and training to compensate for a manpower
deficit in any potential regional conflict. U.S. military aid, a portion of which may
be spent on procurement from Israeli defense companies, also has helped Israel to
build a domestic defense industry, which ranks as one of the top ten suppliers of arms.
For many years, U.S. economic aid helped subsidize a lackluster Israeli
economy, though since the rapid expansion of Israel’s hi-tech sector in the 1990s
Israel is now considered a fully industrialized nation with an economy on par with some Western European countries. Consequently, Israel and the United States agreed to gradually phase out
grant economic aid to Israel. In FY2008, Israel will no longer receive bilateral
Economic Support Fund (ESF) grants. It had been a large-scale recipient of grant
ESF assistance since 1971."
US gets good value for the money it gives Israel. It gets much worse than nothing for the money it gives Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan and PLO. That's so obvious that even Israel-haters find no arguments against it and are reduced to various childish jabs...
You can argue about whether or not it actually benefits Israel, but there can be no reasonable dispute that that is its purpose.