All Comments (225)

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There is no happiness like that of being loved by your these returning vnhxtrrpczayd was very pleasant or desirable no magnet drew me.

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m929k

"are you saying that israel is above being accountable for the massive human rights abuses it has practiced on the palestinian peole?"

I am saying your use of massive is at best hyperbolic.

"yes, the world and billions also condemn other countries that blatantly abuse or occupy lands that others have held."

I don't think you are right about Israel. Which countries are you thinking about?

"you cant be suggesting that the world is pushing jews to give up their religion?"

If you check what you have posted, you will see insistence that Jews stop referring to themselves as the chosen people and stop talking about Israel as their eternal home. Without that you would have a Judaism so acceptable to Muslims and Christians that it would no longer be Judaism.

"face of mountains of evidence ive supplied you with"

Mountains of words you like so much you repeat them over and over do not constitute evidence.

"while you deny there is any mistreatment and even deny the palestinians have a race"

There is certainly mistreatment. You don't just declare that you are a race.

I don't view Jews as a race. I don't view Californians as a race. That does not mean they have no right to be.

I do not recall having studied most incidents enough to be absolutely sure what happened. Imputing guilt when the evidence is scant or ambiguous does not lead to peace. It just makes the people deemed guilty feel they are not being treated fairly. What is the value to that?

The statement "our right to be" was written by an American Jew. When I reference it, I have in mind the way people, such as those I mention in paragraph six above, feel about Jews.

and basically the point is dave- in the face of mountains of evidence ive supplied you with-

you cannot once say that israel is responsible or should be responsible for the abuses suffered by the palestinians.

even israelis themselves concede these points, and want to work to rectify some situations.

while you deny there is any mistreatment and even deny the palestinians have a race- somehow surmising that this means they have no right to stay on their own land- and its perfectly ok for israel to conduct its many injustices on its people.

in other words, you deny and completely absolve israel in every instance and claim this denial is in the interest of peace!

while you complain that some question israels 'right to be'-
you completely deny the palestinians 'right to be' even going so far as to try and invalidate them altogether by saying they are not a race!!!

are you saying that israel is above being accountable for the massive human rights abuses it has practiced on the palestinian peole?

yes, the world and billions also condemn other countries that blatantly abuse or occupy lands that others have held.

so- expecting israel (youre the one lumping all jews together when the issue is and has been israel)

to act in accordance with the human rights declaration that all the countries signed 60 years ago (as did israel) is only asking them to keep their word and honor their committment.

while trying to misleadingly portray the issue as the world against the jews- you are creating false impressions-

you cant be suggesting that the world is pushing jews to give up their religion?

and or else what?

america has made israel a nuclear power!

and wont let anyone else develop nuclear power, the greatest hypocrisy.

how about nato?
what happened to that?
yes dave, the world is saying, why is it okay for israel to continue with its apartheid treatment of the original landholders?
why is it alright for israel to steal land and displace the inhabitants?

why is it ok for the palestinians to live in a gated prison now?

or use palestinian children as human shields ?
and imprison almost 10,000 palestinains without democratic process?

how can israel claim to be democracy when its laws fly in the face of reason?

the laws in israel would be thrown out of the courts in america-

can you imagine if americans said only christians could buy and own land here?

or only chirstians could use roads?

the abuses by israel are so voluminous it would be impossible to catalogue them here.

"People say that because many people do question our right to be and who knows what will happen with modern technology and billions of people who expect Jews to change and adapt to what they want or else."

By what math is that excessive?

yes dave- so your claim of billions and billions seems a bit excessive doesnt it?

6.7 billion.

"According to David Barrett et al, editors of the "World Christian Encyclopedia: A comparative survey of churches and religions - AD 30 to 2200," there are 19 major world religions which are subdivided into a total of 270 large religious groups, and many smaller ones. 34,000 separate Christian groups have been identified in the world.

Christianity 2,039 million

Islam 1,226 million

Hinduism 828 million

No religion 775 million

Buddhism 364 million

Atheists 150 million

Sikhism 23.8 million

Judaism 14.5 million

In the United States alone:

Catholic 71,796,719

Baptist 47,744,049

Methodist/Wesleyan 19,969,799

Lutheran 13,520,189

Presbyterian 7,897,597

Pentecostal/Charismatic 6,219,569

Episcopalian/Anglican 4,870,373

Judaism 3,995,371

So why the obsession with Jews among Muslims and Christians? Why the belief that Jews in the US have more power than Christians?

dave do you even know how many people are on the planet?

Victoria,

I do not follow what you are saying. The backing of the US does not ensure that billions of people will think as the US does.

You seem to think it is right to question Jews' right to be. And I suspect there are billions who agree with you. So where is the paranoia?

well, why do people question their right to be, dave?

is it possible they may have a point to such a question?

billions of people dave?

isnt that a little tiny bit paranoid?

especially when israel has the backing of the united states?

"i have read many people that say things like- 'do not question our right to be' as if it is a foregone conclusion-"

People say that because many people do question our right to be and who knows what will happen with modern technology and billions of people who expect Jews to change and adapt to what they want or else.

this is not unique in human history- rather it is the norm.

but- as always and forever- it avoids the question so dave, you dont have reasons, you have a conclusion, you expect your conclusion to be validated by others while you make no attempt to validate it yourself,
ok!

thats all ive been asking for dave- as ive validated my conclusion with much resources and reasoning-

in all these boards, i have read many people that say things like- 'do not question our right to be' as if it is a foregone conclusion-

but no one has yet offered any reasonable suggestion as to why that should be an accepted premise-

but its not necessarily an accepted premise- but no one has stepped up to the plate to offer suggestions as to WHY

even in this forum ive looked for compelling reasons -

im willing to accept another persons point of view-

but no one has one-
no one digs deep-
not a one

I have a more rigorous concept of proof than you do. It involves checking things out not assuming things are so because the right people say they are so.

I think the commitments are clear.

We disagree about what constitutes stability.

We also disagree about what the following words mean.

Truth

Racism

Anti-semitism

Colony

Empire

Imperial

Apartheid

Genocide

Nazism

Fascism

Terrorism

Peace

Justice

Palestinian

Arab

For example the notion that Israel is a racist state that practices Apartheid and is genocidal depends on these ideas:

Jews are part of the White Race.

Arabs are not part of the White Race.

Palestinians are a race apart from Arabs.

Otherwise you have a tiny group, which has been pushed down for millenia. dealing with a huge group, which has been pushing people around for a very long time.

the question still remains the same dave- as i respond to your points- you still ignore mine and ignore the original question that spawned all this distracting info-

you support israel because we made a committment to them- and they provided stablity to the region

ok- prove it dave

Many countries have not had a violent change of government since 1947.

dave- this is exeptionally poor reasoning-

what countries WERE stable in 1947?

the entire european continent was recovering-

this is not a reason- if you think its a validation for what as done to the palestinians ok-

i figured you had something little more- well sensible- something that could be empathized with or understood-

displacing an entire nation and creating the largest refugee population the earth had ever seen constitutes providing stablity?

for who dave? for who?

"youre trying to say that region was unstable in 1947?"

Yes. There were regimes put in place by the British and French that did not like each other and did not have popular support."

Note how much guerilla action there was and how many revolutions. Note also that in 1947 King Farouk was in power in Egypt. Was that a stable situation?

i said-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
it was the formation of israel in that region that was the CAUSE of all the present and past instabilities

youre trying to say that region was unstable in 1947?

it was the expulsion of the palestinians and the buying up of land and interference ofthe brtish (all outside sources) that CREATED the instability
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

we clear there dave?

ok so i ask- what instability?

saying something is a slogan dave (even when its not) sill is not an answer-

"it was the formation of israel in that region that was the CAUSE of all the present and past instabilities

youre trying to say that region was unstable in 1947?"

Yes. There were regimes put in place by the British and French that did not like each other and did not have popular support.

Statements such as all instabilities were caused by the creation of Israel are slogans. Things have multiple causes and the connections between what went before and what came after are hard to figure out.

Is the battle over the waterway where Iran seized the British soldiers and sailors the fault of Israel in your view?

well im surrounded by turks dave-

and there is no danger whatsoever of any islamic group taking over turkey-

the party that is islamic is indeed pretty small and basically a powerless fringe-

as a matter of fact-in the whole country- only 50 of them showed up to protest the popes visit- and they were rounded up without a ripple from the turks-

so to get back to your statement-

israel is by no means the only stable government in the region-

this is yur justification for funding-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Israel is one our most loyal allies and allies help each other.

Israel has the most stable government in the region and the region desperately need stability
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

it was the formation of israel in that region that was the CAUSE of all the present and past instabilities

youre trying to say that region was unstable in 1947?

it was the expulsion of the palestinians and the buying up of land and interference ofthe brtish (all outside sources) that CREATED the instability-

how does this reason work?

even imagining that your statement is historically true-for the sake f argument-

it is not true today-

possibly you want to modify your rationale?

but you tell yourself what you want dave=
whatever gets you through the night

You do not like my answers. I did not realize you are an expert on Turkey.

You might try accepting that I think what I think and mean what I say and move on.

if if if?

not what if dave- what is-

and dave- im privy to turkish newspapers every day-

you have GOT to be kidding!

wmoen in government arent even allowed to wear hijab!

the right wing islamic party in turkey is a very smalland powerless minority

very small- so again- what about those countries?

you didnt answer the responded question posted

(big surprise)

Turkey has people who are trying to overthrow the government and establish an Islamic Republic. They may do that. The same forces are at work in Jordan. If the king dies, there could be chaos.

israel is more stable than jordan?
or turkey?
or just pick a country and insert it-

ok dave- ill start giving you details then

Politics is the art of deciding things without violence.

My reasons, all given before, some almost verbatim, some with much less detail:

Israel is one our most loyal allies and allies help each other.

Israel has the most stable government in the region and the region desperately need stability.

We have made commitments to Israel and wise governments honor the commitments they have made.

Some aid for some things is clearly appropriate. It is not all going to killing children. Some may in retrospect have not been used well. I think most people will agree with that. This is where I do not have enough details to comment further. Nor do I know where to look for further details. A huge problem is that there is no source of general information about that kind of thing which everybody trusts. And people are making no effort to find specific things everyone can agree about.

Israel is no more a monster than France, Denmark, and Germany all of which have been severely criticized for the way they treat Muslims.

i didnt call you a weasel dave- i said youre using a weasel maneuver-

dave- straight question- straight answer-

you dont have a straight answer-

no dave- its an opinion question
why do you think something?
i think something for this reason

simple

its my failure because i cant read through your circuitous code?

where is your answer dave?

ive been asking- steadily-

havent seen one yet-

now your new tackis to say you gave one i just didnt like it-

i guess you figure if you give the impression youve asnwered, that people will assume you did-

dave- i dont care

you have an answer, you dont-

all these semantics and circular gong back and forth-

you havent produced an answer-

your answer is you havent studied it enough

go study and when you have an answer let me know

id say running someone around in circles when tey ask a simple question for 2 weeks is not polite

you have a future in politics

The question you keep asking is a true or false question. You are frustrated because you can't get that kind of answer from me. Nor did I say it is unimportant simply not all important. Not understanding that seems to be because you think either it is important or it is not important. And that is "important true or false."

Moreover your failure to read what I wrote does not mean it is not sitting there to be read even now.

Is calling someone a weasel polite?

however the question continues to be relevant to others-

ive been polite to you and never cast any aspersion on you-
while you say you want peaceful progress- id suggest you shouldnt accuse others of being in a true false mode- not only is this personally insulting- it is just bad manners -

sayng the issue suddenly becomes unimportant because you dont have a reason-

you could have stated that 2 week ago- but didnt

youre right dave- sorry for being so confrontational-

i appreciate the reasoned answer you gave elsewhere

"you dont have an answer so you say the question is unimportant???"

I have given you answers. They aren't the sort of answers you want. That is because I view the issue much differently than you do.

Once again you are in true false mode. It is as if you feel this very complex collection of issues can be reduced to twenty simple true or false questions.

Not feeling how much aid we give to Israel is the only important issue is much different from feeling the issue is unimportant. I think our continuing inability to simply talk about this is a far more important issue. No peaceful progress can be made with varying groups of people who do not know how to talk to each other without starting fights.

what kind of weasel maneuver is that?

you dont have an answer so you say the question is unimportant???

why didnt you say that 2 weeks ago?

you have stated your support of american financing of israel- point blank

i asked you what your reasoning is- for 2 weeks

you dont have a reason

fine

you should have said it weeks ago

just come out honestly -"i dont have a reason"

o, ok dave- no problem.

what is wrong with you?

direct question dave-

youve stated you support america funding israel

what are the reasons you feel this way?

Why do you think everyone must study and evaluate this issue? There are many important issues.

If we don't have the details, we can only guess. And you can't do much thinking through with guesses.

The you must find this important right now or you are a bad person view is another thing that troubles me about some of these demonstrations. In SF they like to tie up traffic on the Friday evening commute home. That has never affected me but it seems to be part of this idea that what is important to us right now should be important to you right now and if it is not, we have no sympathy for your petty personal problems.

Compared to people dying, getting home from work on time is trivial. But there are all kinds of reasons why people are dying. And aid to Israel is far from the most important reason why.

dave- go do some research davwe- we give cahs with no accountability-

dave i see you have never looked at this issue and dont really know-

i havent asked about anything but have been supplying you with detailed info (as detailed as it can get since israel never explains where the money goes)

why do you dave marshak- as a moral human reason we should keep giving israel the biiggest foreign aid package for years and years-

dave- the amount is 1 hypothetically ok?

why should the united states give money to israel?
what is your personal feelings and reasons that lead you to support israel funding by us?

you dave marshak- what you think- your personal reasoning

Interesting. You think we have budget items like gob of money to Israel with no explanation of what the gob consists of? That would be sad. You have asked about budgets going back to 1948. Which items would you trim in the budget now and where are you looking at them? Should we pull out of the Middle East completely? Would that make life dramatically better for the people in the region?

the budgets have been outlayed for you-

by no means thousands of budget items-

thats the interesting thing about aid to israel- theres no accountability-

many times lump sums are given and in cash too- (according to what the us government says about itself from manty sources ive provided you with elsewhere-

we reason them together because they are together and go in the same pocket- israels

why do you think we should continue giving them so much money?

dave- what is the reason we are giving israel billions of dollars?

same question its been

You are talking about what I suspect are thousands of separate budget items each of them separately justified. They are certainly not all lumped together with the explanation "must give or face wrath of AIPAC." Neither of us know what most of them are. So how can we reason about them together?

it the united states government policy dave-

are you just going to keep answering this very reasonable question with more questions?

the question reamins, why? what reason?

ive been thinking for some time you dont have a reason other than emotional-

which is fine-

Where does this 10 year limit idea come from?

"30% of our budget"

Which is broken down into specifics where? One site will do.

why do we continue to fund israel tothe tune of 30% of our total aid package?

for 59 years solid?

millions every single day dave-

the palestinians have cut their agressions in half-

the israels have more than doubled theirs last year-

we cut off all funding to palestine(not that it comapared in any way to israel)

16th richest country in the world
1/1000th of the worlds population

30% of our budget

why after 59 years are we still financially supporting them?

cant they support themselves like we do?

every other country in the world has a 10 year limit on american aid

what reason should we give them all that money?

ive provided endless statistics and government websites for you to substantiate it and youve seen and responded to them

so why?

If the rest of the world believes Jews control the Bush adminstration, that is pretty widespread close to if not there anti-semitism and a great excuse to attack Jews.

You write as if there has been a country called Palestine which was established thousands of years ago and comprised just Gaza and the West Bank.

Why did Kennedy and Carter fund Israel as their predecessors had? They thought it would lead to peace. Israel has done what it has done because they hoped it would lead to peace. People who speak for the Palestinians feel that way about what they are saying. So we have many people with a common objective and very different ideas about how to achieve it. So far nothing has worked.

ok dave- you believe against the rest of the world that there is no neocon-israeli connection-

and that the second most powerful lobby in america has nothing to do with our exorbitant funding of israel and the fact that we dont give one penny to palestine.

heres a really specific question in nedd of a specific focused on target answer-

why should the usa keep supporting israel financially?

"Judas Goats"

"This film let's the viewer see with his or her own eyes that the towers and Building 7 were brought down in controlled demolitions."

"9/11 And the Israeli Connection"

"The Israeli Holocaust Against the Palestinians"

You view all of that as measured and reasonable? And you think my not so viewing it shows I ignore the news?

dave thats a pretty wild generalization to make from just looking at a list of books-

how can you possibly infer that satan is ruling america or anyone is saying that?

do you like to say buzzwords for dramatic effect?

dave- turn on cspan someday-

we are fallible humans indeed dave- pay attention to the upcoming aipac meeting in washington

That link took me to this:

"Iraq War, Israel-Palestine, Zionism, Jewish Movements, 9/11
A Listmania list by seekerotruth "seekerotruth" (Southern California)"

It has 12 items including:

"9/11 Mysteries - Part I: Demolitions DVD ~ Avatar
seekerotruth says:
"This film let's the viewer see with his or her own eyes that the towers and Building 7 were brought down in controlled demolitions."

The Judas Goats: The Shocking Story of the Infiltration and Subversion of the American Nationalist Movement by Michael Collins Piper
seekerotruth says:
"Hard-hitting book on the Zionist infiltration of the American Right and more. Does Piper overstate the case? If he does, it is only occassionally - and not by much."

Terror Enigma: 9/11 And the Israeli Connection by Justin Raimondo
seekerotruth says:
"It was a good little introduction into the realm of 9/11 truth for me. But now it is dated because the official version of the event has been shown to be a complete lie."

"The Israeli Holocaust Against the Palestinians" is one of the most explosive indictments of the Zionist state ever published, proving conclusively that the Israelis themselves are guilty of a holocaust."

Why should I take any of those books seriously? The authors and presses are for the most part obscure and the titles suggest they are rather biased.

Today we have many sources of truth:

The so called mainstream media which does not agree with most of that.

Palestinian sources who are fighting the good fight against what they seem to think is evil so inhuman as to be Satanic.

The goverments of Israel and the United States, which if not guided by Satan are deemed to be wholly untrustworthy by the folks who read and write these books.

Jewish leaders in the US who for the most part are viewed as apologists for Isreal who will say and do anything by the crowd who thinks that way.

We are all fallible human beings limited by where we have been in terms of time and space and what we have studied and experienced. However we can compare things and find patterns, which can be evaluated with reason.

heres a list of 25 books about the neo-con isralei influence on american policy makers

http://www.amazon.com/Iraq-Israel-Palestine-Zionism-Jewish-Movements/lm/R3LF7LQZVBQG16

"neocon connection to aipac" got me a bunch of questionable sites. Which are truth tellers and why should I believe them?

"neocon connection to aipac" got me a bunch of qustionable sites. Which are truth tellers and why should I believe them?

It happens partly because the old money Protestant establishment and the evangelicals want it to happen. They want a solidly pro-US presence in the Middle East. Both have huge influence in the Republican Party. Jews do not. And superiors do not take direction from their subordinates.

Liberal Democrats also support Israel because it makes sense based on all of the facts.

Elevating guesses and innuendos to facts because they are air many folks breathe diminishes the truth available and does not lead to understanding and peace.

no dave- it makes sense because it stands on its own- do me a favor dave- google neocon coneection to aipac

i just spent a half hour reading links and links-

what doesn make sense?

the military aid given to israel?

the enormous monies given?

how does that have anything to do with if neocons control bush or not?

what kind of obscurantist and again deflection of the issue is that?

it makes sense dave because its fact-

"the current administration is the tool of the neocons-

the neocons are 95% jewish- thats no secret-"

If the old money crowd which excluded Jews were now controlled by the Jews, what you say would make sense. But that is not so.

what are you talking about dave?

the current administration is the tool of the neocons-

the neocons are 95% jewish- thats no secret-

i have never heard any politician anywhere any time say israel doesnt have a right to exist-

and i watch congressional and senatorial proceedings every singleday- i am right now!

"this aid is "little more than an American subsidy to U.S. arms manufacturers," considering that the majority of military aid to Israel is used to buy weapons from the U.S."

no dave- they pay about 40% discount
well they dont pay anything the us charges itslef a 40% discount and GIVES it all to israel

what kind of bizarre reasining is that?

andi didnt include unpaid loans to israel- the interest on those unpaid loans- and the very large charity money flowing there (which gets written off from taxes here - and who pays for that?)
and the military budget

so yes dave- 300 billion
but does it matter?

enough is enough!

"are you serious?
WHAT FUNDING TO THE PALESTINIANS???"

The funding that is in all the media. It was cut off because the current government won't recognize that Israel has a right to exist.

"Total Cost to U.S. Taxpayers
$134,791,507,200"

What happened to the earlier $300B number?

It is useful to have allies.

"When grant, loans, interest and tax deductions are added together for the fiscal year ending in September 30, 1997, our special relationship with Israel cost U.S. taxpayers over $10 billion."

Only grants are grants.

Tom Malthaner is angry. Is he more important than I am?

"by Stephen Zunes

"The U.S. aid relationship with Israel is unlike any other in the world," said Stephen Zunes during a January 26 CPAP presentation. "In sheer volume, the amount is the most generous foreign aid program ever between any two countries," added Zunes, associate professor of Politics and chair of the Peace and Justice Studies Program at the University of San Francisco.

He explored the strategic reasoning behind the aid, asserting that it parallels the "needs of American arms exporters" and the role "Israel could play in advancing U.S. strategic interests in the region."

Matti Peled, former Israeli major general and Knesset member, told Zunes that he and most Israeli generals believe this aid is "little more than an American subsidy to U.S. arms manufacturers," considering that the majority of military aid to Israel is used to buy weapons from the U.S."

And that creates jobs which support our economy. It is like Keynes's idea about paying people to dig holes and then fill them in as a way of keeping unemployment low.

"Israel, whose troubles arise solely from its unwillingness to give back land it seized in the 1967 war in return for peace with its neighbors, does not fit those criteria."

Then why were all the wars fought and what is the right of return about?

"That put it below Britain at $19,500 and Italy at $18,700 and just above Ireland at $15,400 and Spain at $14,300.

All four of those European countries have contributed a very large share of immigrants to the U.S., yet none has organized an ethnic group to lobby for U.S. foreign aid."

The UK does not need a lobby. And there are plenty of Irish American and Italian American groups which lobby for what they view as their interests. We have been a major source of funding for the IRA despite its being a terrorist group.

I only mention that because it shows how wrong many of these facts are.

"There is something else very special about AIPAC's network of political action committees. Nearly all have deceptive names. Who could possibly know that the Delaware Valley Good Government Association in Philadelphia, San Franciscans for Good Government in California, Cactus PAC in Arizona, Beaver PAC in Wisconsin, and even Icepac in New York are really pro-Israel PACs under deep cover?"

Most of those are listed on the web here:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/toppacs1992.html

That is a Jewish source. Some secret.

"Among them are Hadassah, the Zionist women's organization, which organizes a steady stream of American Jewish visitors to Israel; the American Jewish Congress, which mobilizes support for Israel among members of the traditionally left-of-center Jewish mainstream; and the American Jewish Committee, which plays the same role within the growing middle-of-the-road and right-of-center Jewish community. The American Jewish Committee also publishes Commentary,one of the Israel lobby's principal national publications.

Perhaps the most controversial of these groups is B'nai B'rith's Anti-Defamation League. Its original highly commendable purpose was to protect the civil rights of American Jews. Over the past generation, however, the ADL has regressed into a conspiratorial and, with a $45 million budget, extremely well-funded hate group.

In the 1980s, during the tenure of chairman Seymour Reich, who went on to become chairman of the Conference of Presidents, ADL was found to have circulated two annual fund-raising letters warning Jewish parents against allegedly negative influences on their children arising from the increasing Arab presence on American university campuses."

If all of those organizations get someone angry, the angry person is functionally anti-semitic. Everyone has a right to organize and speak out. We don't benefit from people hiding in the closet moaning to each other about the injustice of it all.

are you serious?
WHAT FUNDING TO THE PALESTINIANS???

IM TALKING ABOUT FUNDING TO ISRAEL DAVE!
I hate to be a blog hog but we seem to be the only ones here-

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Home > Html > WRMEA: U.S. Aid to Israel

U.S. Financial Aid To Israel: Figures, Facts, and Impact
Summary

Benefits to Israel of U.S. Aid
Since 1949 (As of November 1, 1997)

Foreign Aid Grants and Loans
$74,157,600,000

Other U.S. Aid (12.2% of Foreign Aid)
$9,047,227,200

Interest to Israel from Advanced Payments
$1,650,000,000

Grand Total
$84,854,827,200

Total Benefits per Israeli
$14,630
Cost to U.S. Taxpayers of U.S.
Aid to Israel

Grand Total
$84,854,827,200

Interest Costs Borne by U.S.
$49,936,680,000

Total Cost to U.S. Taxpayers
$134,791,507,200

Total Taxpayer Cost per Israeli
$23,240
Special Reports:

*

Congress Watch: A Conservative Total for U.S. Aid to Israel: $91 Billion—and Counting
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Congressional Research Report on Israel: US Foreign Assistance by Clyde Mark (213K pdf file)
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U.S. Aid To Israel: The Strategic Functions
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U.S. Aid to Israel: What U.S. Taxpayer Should Know
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U.S. Aid to Israel: Interpreting the 'Strategic Relationship'
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The Cost of Israel to U.S. Taxpayers: True Lies About U.S. Aid to Israel

THE STRATEGIC FUNCTIONS OF U.S. AID TO ISRAEL

By Stephen Zunes

Dr. Zunes is an assistant professor in the Department of Politics at the University of San Francisco

Since 1992, the U.S. has offered Israel an additional $2 billion annually in loan guarantees. Congressional researchers have disclosed that between 1974 and 1989, $16.4 billion in U.S. military loans were converted to grants and that this was the understanding from the beginning. Indeed, all past U.S. loans to Israel have eventually been forgiven by Congress, which has undoubtedly helped Israel's often-touted claim that they have never defaulted on a U.S. government loan. U.S. policy since 1984 has been that economic assistance to Israel must equal or exceed Israel's annual debt repayment to the United States. Unlike other countries, which receive aid in quarterly installments, aid to Israel since 1982 has been given in a lump sum at the beginning of the fiscal year, leaving the U.S. government to borrow from future revenues. Israel even lends some of this money back through U.S. treasury bills and collects the additional interest.

In addition, there is the more than $1.5 billion in private U.S. funds that go to Israel annually in the form of $1 billion in private tax-deductible donations and $500 million in Israeli bonds. The ability of Americans to make what amounts to tax-deductible contributions to a foreign government, made possible through a number of Jewish charities, does not exist with any other country. Nor do these figures include short- and long-term commercial loans from U.S. banks, which have been as high as $1 billion annually in recent years.

Total U.S. aid to Israel is approximately one-third of the American foreign-aid budget, even though Israel comprises just .001 percent of the world's population and already has one of the world's higher per capita incomes. Indeed, Israel's GNP is higher than the combined GNP of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza. With a per capita income of about $14,000, Israel ranks as the sixteenth wealthiest country in the world; Israelis enjoy a higher per capita income than oil-rich Saudi Arabia and are only slightly less well-off than most Western European countries.

AID does not term economic aid to Israel as development assistance, but instead uses the term "economic support funding." Given Israel's