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Why The U.S. Aids Israel

Mike

Well-known member
Israel is among the few countries in the world, and the only Middle Eastern state, to consistently stand alongside the United States on strategic issues in the UN and in other venues for international cooperation. Israel votes with the USA in the UN about 94% of the time. No other nation holds that record.

But amicable support alone cannot justify tens of billions of taxpayer dollars in US aid to Israel. Happily, the USA has two very strong reasons to conclude that money to Israel is an investment for which the American people get a truly excellent return.

First, there is a financial reciprocity in this “special relationship” quite unlike any other that the USA has. Much, and in many years most, of the money that the USA gives Israel has been used by Israel to purchase goods and services, both military and civilian, from the USA, so that American aid money is recycled back into the American economy. Nearly 90% of US aid to Israel is military, and Israel spends about 75% of that buying U.S. goods. This aid has been described as an indirect American subsidy to U.S. arms manufacturers.

But, second, there is more to this issue than merely Israel’s using American money to help the US economy. Israel is a very powerful military ally as well. The security cooperation between Israel and the United States is vast, and Israel has consistently been a major security asset to the United States, an asset upon which America can rely, far more so than have been other state recipients of American largesse.[4]
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In the field of military intelligence Israel is arguably the world's leading expert in collecting intelligence on terrorist groups and in counter-terrorism. It provides intelligence and know-how to the U.S. According to Maj. Gen. George J. Keegan Jr., former head of U.S. Air Force intelligence, America's military defense capability "owes more to the Israeli intelligence input than it does to any single source of intelligence," the worth of which input, he estimated, exceeds "five CIAs." He further stated that between 1974 and 1990, Israel received $18.3 billion in U.S. military grants. During the same period Israel provided the U.S. with $50-$80 billion in intelligen­ce, research and developmen­t savings, and Soviet weapons systems captured and transferre­d to the U.S.[5]

Israeli and American intelligence agencies continuously exchange information, analyses, and operational experience in counterterrorism and counter-proliferation. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its Israeli counterpart share technical know-how in defending against terrorist attacks, countering unconventional weapons and cyber-threats, and combating the drug trade. On the battlefield, Israeli armaments protect Bradley and Stryker units from rocket-propelled grenades, while Israeli-made drones and reconnaissance devices allow for safe surveillance of hostile territory. U.S. fighter aircraft and helicopters incorporate Israeli concepts and components, as do modern-class U.S. warships. The IDF has furnished U.S. forces with its expertise in the detection and neutralization of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the largest cause of American casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Former Supreme Commander of NATO and U.S. Secretary of State Gen. Alexander Haig (deceased) described Israel as "the largest US aircraft carrier, which does not require even one US soldier, cannot be sunk, is the most cost-effective and battle-tested, located in a region which is critical to vital US interests. If there would not be an Israel, the US would have to deploy real aircraft carriers, along with tens of thousands of US soldiers, which would cost tens of billions of dollars annually, dragging the US unnecessarily into local, regional and global conflicts."[6]

In short, support for Israel has been a very profitable investment for the USA. Israel is an ideal ally for America in the Middle East. Haifa is one of the safest and most hospitable ports for the 6th Fleet, a dependable base for pre-positioning emergency military stores for deployment in neighboring countries, and a base for close-by sophisticated medical services.

In contrast, the problems the United States faces in the Persian Gulf today stem from the fact that it does not have an Israel equivalent there. Absent a strong, loyal, and dependable ally in the region, the United States has had to deploy, redeploy, and redeploy again, at a cost that easily exceeds a trillion dollars. Repeated U.S. administrations came to power predisposed to associate with the Arab world and to disassociate from Israel; but in the end, most came to acknowledge the worth of Israel as a steadfast ally in a volatile region. From Lyndon Johnson on, most have come to see that US support for Israel has been the most cost-effective national security investment for America since World War II and the Marshal Plan.

In sum, Israel’s enemies are America’s enemies. Israel fights the same Islamo-fascist terrorism that brought down our World Trade Center, blew up a large chunk of the Pentagon, killed more than 3,000 innocent American civilians, and cost our economy as yet unascertained billions of dollars. Israeli-American strategic cooperation is not a given, it is not automatic, it is not a knee-jerk reaction to shared values, and it is not a panacea; but without it the world would be a much more dangerous place. Israel helps keep America safe.

At $3 billion a year, that’s an incredible bargain.
 

mrj

Well-known member
Thanks for sharing that information, Mike. Unfortunately, most of us are pretty ignorant of facts of Israel/USA relationships and reciprocal exchanges of information about common enemies and threats to our safety/existence.

We hear too much complaint about costs of this relationship, and rarely hear of the benefits. I doubt that overall, there is any true 'deficit' there, considering the benefits of the warnings of danger to the USA we gain from help of Israel, let alone the support in UN votes. Not that I believe we should even allow the UN to be on US soil, or to receive any of our US dollars for any reason!

mrj
 

Mike

Well-known member
Yep. Believe it or not, we have a few people who read here occasionally and criticize the fiduciary relationship between the USA & Israel yet know nothing of the benefits we receive from it. Wonder what they think of all the money we pay Russia for seats on the Space Station?
 

loomixguy

Well-known member
The anti Semites won't change their tune no matter how the FACTS are presented showing them to be bigoted haters of the chosen people. As we know, this affliction supercedes sex, financial situation, education, or geographic location....the two worst being an elderly male from the northern country and the other a well heeled so called "southern belle".
 

TexasBred

Well-known member
Not to mention the actual dirty work (as in assassinations etc) that Israel does in order to help the USA to look innocent.
 

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