US military aid to Israel, intended to sustain its “qualitative military edge”, sustains the occupation and violence against Palestinians.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu lost his battle to kill the Iran nuclear deal last spring. That loss may yet yield him a victory: a sizeable increase in U.S. military aid “as compensation” for the Iran deal.
In a meeting at the White House on November 16, 2015, the Prime Minister reportedly requested a new ten-year commitment of military aid the amount of $50 billion. That amount would represent an increase from the current $3.1 billion a year to $5 billion ($13.7 million a day). At the start of negotiations for a new aid program to begin in FY 2018, President Obama reportedly offered an increase in the annual contributions to “between $4.2 and $4.5 billion”
With the seldom-reported military aid package back in the news, it is useful to view the larger scope of U.S. military and other aid to Israel. In its June 10, 2015 report (“U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel”), the Congressional Research Service (CRS) detailed the various spigots of United States assistance to Israel that are on top of the ten-year arms grant agreements. For example, Defense Department appropriations for U.S.-Israeli Missile Defense Programs ($620 million for FY 2015) help finance the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow projects. During the 2014 Gaza war, Congress voted an additional $225 million of funds to augment the Iron Dome project.
An important non-monetary benefit is “cash flow financing,” which enables Israel to pay with U.S. borrowed funds (i.e. funds on which the U.S. incurs debt) for its U.S. arms purchases on an installment plan.
More surprising is that the Israeli government is allowed to earn interest on the early lump sum transfer of U.S. grant funds before they are needed for arms purchases. Never mind that such grants are funded with borrowed money on which interest is charged to the U.S. government (and ultimately its taxpayers).
Israel is allowed to use approximately 26.3% of its military aid grants for domestic defense purchases, helping the Israeli defense industry become a major arms exporter. Israel is also eligible to receive excess defense articles, such as the 2013 transfer of 236 excess tactical trucks valued at $7.6 million. In addition, the U.S. maintains an emergency stockpile in Israel (currently valued at about $1.8 billion), which the Israeli Defense Force has at times drawn down for use in past conflicts.
Congress has proposed legislation for FY 2016 that would authorize additional funding at undisclosed levels for anti-tunnel defense.
Non-military assistance to Israel comes from the migration and refugee assistance account ($12 to $80 million a year)—to assist in the resettlement of migrants to Israel; and loan guarantees to assist with housing shortages or to provide an economic safety net. Loan guarantees enable Israel to borrow at lower than commercial rates. As of 2015 Israel was authorized to issue up to $3.8 billion in U.S.-backed bonds.
While the overriding purpose of U.S. military aid is to maintain Israel’s “qualitative military edge” over neighboring countries, most of the arms expended under the program have been directed against Palestinians.
According to a Political-Military desk officer at the State Department, with whom I spoke on March 1, U.S. arms assistance is not politically conditioned. Thus the underlying agreement is silent on the occupation, settlements and Palestinian rights. Nor are there restrictions that would ban phosphorus bullets (used in the 2014 Gaza war) or cluster bombs.
An unanswered question is how the State and Defense Departments have managed to get around the so-called “Leahy Law” in the face of Israeli oppression of Palestinians. Embodied in both the Foreign Assistance Act and annual defense appropriations, the Leahy provisions ban security assistance to any country “that engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.” The State Department Human Rights Report for 2014 contains an expansive section on Israel that fails to treat the occupation, settlements and Gaza siege as gross violations of human rights.
U.S. arms aid to Israel is driven by Congress, almost all of whose members have enjoyed expense-paid junkets to Israel and/or generous campaign contributions from AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) or a related lobby. According to a February 2015 Gallop Poll, 62% of Americans, informed by a staunchly pro-Israel media, said their sympathies lie with Israel. Only 16% were sympathetic to the Palestinians.
The tendency of Congress (and Americans in general) to ignore Israeli assaults on Palestinian rights has allowed an expanding flow of unrestricted arms to the IDF—weapons and military equipment used to kill Palestinian civilians in the recent past and likely to do so again in the future.
With such complicity by the United States, it is no longer correct to refer to the Israeli occupation. What we have now is the Israel/U.S. occupation.
This article should be titled: Call for Impeachment of Members of our U.S. Executive Branch and Congress for — lies, deception and ambiguities with intent to circumvent US Law in support of Israeli Aid.
I seriously wonder whether President Obama, his Administration and the lion’s share of our US Congress actually loves and serves Israeli interests above American Citizens. If our representatives and appointed leaders are willing to commit crimes against the American People and risk impeachment by lying, muzzling federal employees and American Citizens open debate of Israel — not only is America no longer great but jaded, damaged, dangerous and untrustworthy to American Citizens from within and finished as a legitimate institution of governance as a world leader. Shame on us…
The 1919 US appointed King-Crane Commission was sent to Palestine to explore the possibility of forming a Zionist homeland.
The findings were stark; Such a proposal was unfeasible as it would require the removal of the intrinsic population and could only be sustained by force of arms.
A codicil letter accompanied the report, it emphasised that were such a Zionist State to be created, it would require permanent US financial, military and diplomatic support.
Nearly 100 years later, that is the current situation. 5 million UN registered Palestinian refugees,all denied their right of return, simply because they are not Zionists.
2 million Palestinians imprisoned in the Gaza ghetto, with Zionist Israel offering exactly the same justification that Nazi Germany provided for the Warsaw Ghetto.
3 million West Bank Palestinians living under an illegal occupation.
nearly 2 million Palestinians do live as Residential Citizens within Zionist Israeli borders. However they are subject to over 60 Zionist Israeli laws applicable only to Palestinian Israelis. Any breach of any or these laws can, and does, result in removal of Residential status then deportation.
Marriage between Palestinian Israelis and Zionist Israelis are not possible, indeed such marriages are referred to as “Mixed Marriages”
Zionist Israel is in violation of 77 United Nations resolutions, with the US vetoing a record number of Security Council resolutions that would otherwise have authorised United Nations action against Zionist..
The CIA confirms between 200 and 400 nuclear warheads stockpiled by Zionist Israel, The USA has supplied aTomahawk delivery system for these warheads.
This unconditional US support, for over 68 years has allowed Zionist Israel to pursue a policy of Genocidal Apartheid that is preferred to a policy of integration with the intrinsic population or the Middle East as a whole.
Zionist Israel is a Western Colony created exclusively for European Zionist immigrants, created by Britain and sustained by the USA, and strongly resented by some 400 million Arabs, and 80 million Iranians.
9 million of the worlds 15 million or so Jews, may have automatic support for some 6 million Zionists, however they have neither the need or desire to live on stolen Palestinian land.
History has no example of any State, Country or Empire that has permanently maintained it`s military superiority, it`s delusional to assume that the US (and Israel) will be the first.
The time has come for the US to take a realistic approach towards Zionist Israel.
Winning wars is the easy bit, winning the peace is much more difficult. Zionist Israel should be encouraged to try ……….. before it`s too late.
–Zionist Israel is in violation of 77 United Nations resolutions–
Despite these cruel violations, American aid has been on the increasing trajectory!
Until Congress passes an Amendment to counter Citizens United Supreme Court decision that allows political contributions to run amok we cannot expect sensible foreign policy decisions. There is far too much interference from lobbyist groups. AIPAC ECI and individuals such as Sheldon Adleson and Haim Saban and others put relentless pressure on our elected officials. It’s simply out of control