Why Do We Fund Israel So Much?

Israel & Palestine Forum

Doubts over US aid to Israel
Israeli models pose in front of US Patriot missiles
US military aid is a fashion accessory in Tel Aviv
Israel says the US has offered the country $10bn (£6.4bn) to bail it out of the worst economic crisis in its history.

Israel's Finance Ministry said the package consisted of $1bn (£640,000m) in direct military aid and $9bn in loan guarantees.

But, several hours after Israel announced the deal, the US said it had not made a decision about the aid package.

US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters at a briefing: "We don't have any new decisions on that.

"The request has been made by the Israelis. The status today is the same as yesterday. We are looking at it. We are considering it."

War budget

The 30-month-long Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation and the global economic slowdown have plunged Israel into its third year of recession.

The country is the biggest recipient of US aid worldwide and initially asked for $4bn (£2.5bn) in military aid and $8bn in loan guarantees.

The US would deduct from the loan guarantees any Israeli expenditure on settlement activities in Palestinian areas.

The package is part of President George W Bush's war budget and even if it is agreed by the President it will still need approval by the US Congress.

Economic troubles

Israel said that US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice pledged the aid to Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday.

"Rice told Netanyahu that the (Bush) administration decided to raise the amount of the guarantees by $1bn over what had been planned because the Americans were impressed by the economic plan that has been presented to the government," Israel's finance ministry said in a statement.

Israel's economy contracted by 1% in 2002 after a 0.9% fall in 2001 and the budget deficit is running at 6%, twice the forecast for 2003.

Mr Netanyahu on Monday announced government spending cuts and reductions in the public sector wage to rein in the budget deficit.

Israel already receives $3bn a year from the US, mostly as military aid.

Read my thread, "The path to perpetual war..." to find the TRUE answer.

This info sounds reasonably objective:

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A student of Arab origins has asked that I forward his comments to the newspost.. They are found at the end here, with my replies at the start. I have removed his name.

Thanks for the comments. You need, I fear, to rely on official sources, X --- as well as good media reports from the NY Times etc rather than on Arab propaganda that give a misleading picture:

1) The fact is, Egypt gets almost as much as Israel in foreign aid --- $2.3 billion in aid (military and economic) last year --- and that has been the case for the last 23 years, an agreement between the US, Israel, and Egypt that goes back to the Camp David Peace Accord of 1978that brought peace to the two countries. The US government pledged to help both countries way
into the future.

Somehow your comments failed to mention either 1. the commitments to both Israel and Egypt under the Accord, or 2. the aid to Egypt, thus giving rise to the impression --- which I gather you share --- that some powerful Jewish cabal-lobby pulls Congress's strings here.

I add, after looking at a site connected to the Egyptian
government, that it gets several billion dollars worth of other aid from the EU and Japan and oil-rich Arab states (the total is about $10 billion pledged last year), though I have no way of knowing whether the EU and Japan and the Arab states followed through on these pledges

2) More specifically, from the Camp David peace accords until 2000, the US subsidized Egypt's armed forces alone with over $38 billion worth of aid. In 1990, moreover, the US forgave $7.1 billions in past Egyptian military debt (this was during the Gulf War), making a total of $45 billion. On top of that, the Egyptian military gets several hundreds of millions of dollars annually from the Pentagon in "excess" defense materials.

3) Keep in mind that Israel is a democratic society and an ally of the US. The Pentagon is actively engaged with the Israeli military in developing advanced anti-missile defenses, including laser weapons.

During this period Egypt --- since the assassination of President Sadat in 1981 --- has been under Emergency Law with serious human rights abuses. Humans Rights documents extensive police brutality and the widespread use of torture, along with failures to protect the small Coptic Christian community from terrorism.

4) While all this military and civilian assistance has gone on, Egypt itself has been at peace and --- unlike Israel --- not involved in constant mobilization against various threats to its security or independence.

5) Here is the link to Human Rights Watch 2001 Report on Egypt, followed by the link to the report on Israel and the Occupied Areas

http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/mideast/egypt.html

http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/mideast/israel.html


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There are at least three ways in which aid to Israel is different from that of any other country. First, since 1982, U.S. aid to Israel has been transferred in one lump sum at the beginning of each fiscal year, which immediately begins to collect interest in U.S. banks. Aid that goes to other countries is disbursed throughout the year in quarterly installments.

Second, Israel is not required to account for specific purchases. Most countries receive aid for very specific purposes and must account for how it is spent. Israel is allowed to place US aid into its general fund, effectively eliminating any distinctions between types of aid. Therefore, U.S. tax-payers are helping to fund an illegal occupation, the expansion of colonial-settlement projects, and gross human rights violations against the Palestinian civilian population.

A third difference is the sheer amount of aid the U.S. gives to Israel, unparalleled in the history of U.S. foreign policy. Israel usually receives roughly one third of the entire foreign aid budget, despite the fact that Israel comprises less than .001 of the world¹s population and already has one of the world's higher per capita incomes. In other words, Israel, a country
of approximately 6 million people, is currently receiving more U.S. aid than all of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean combined when you take out Egypt and Colombia.

This year, the U.S. Congress approved $2.76 billion in its annual aid package for Israel. The total amount of direct U.S. aid to Israel has been constant, at around $3 billion (usually 60% military and 40% economic) per year for the last
quarter century. A new plan was recently implemented to phase out all economic aid and provide corresponding increases in military aid by 2008. This year Israel is receiving $2.04 billion in military aid and $720 million in economic aid there is only military aid.

It just seemed that everyone was talking about the money Isreal gets - as if we do not give money to arab nations as well.

I was just reminding that Egypt gets about as much as Isreal.

Regarding the PAlestinians, I support a Palestinian State. You will have to ask the Syrians and others how much they give the PAlestinians. Why does the US have to sponsir everyone?

well, as charles said, but did not elaborate about, is that america benfets much from israel. far more, and this i guarantee, then egypt. first of all, whenever there is some sort of ecological disaster in asia, you could bet israeli rescue forces will be in the picture. take for exapmle the massive earthquake in turkey two years ago. the tukish government said that the israeli rescue squads helped save hundreads of lifes (which is more than i can say about ANY arab country). and that is only one example. not many of you know, but israel is a very dominent perticipator in the american security- the brlilliant minds of the israeli inteligens has been helping the american government more that 40 years! one of the founding father of the FBI is israeli (but that's just something i heard, it is my duty to tell you to check that out), and the list goes on. everybody thinks america helps israel becuase israel can't care for thereselfs. but nobody stopped to think that amercia benfets from it too. so it's not oil that they benefit. the israelies have different things to offer. that's all. thank you. good day