U.S. aid to Israel

With a buzz phrase like “government debt” floating around the airwaves, we are all aware of the political pressures on both sides to close the federal budget deficit. Some tough questions on how to close that budget gap will have to be addressed in the coming months, and no politician wants to be the one who says no.

Now, after long spending binges from both parties, our leaders in Washington, D.C. find themselves at the crossroads of deciding what is necessary and what is not. An issue that is politically popular at the moment is cutting foreign aid. In a Rasmussen poll released just last week, 58 percent of Americans believe foreign aid to the Middle East should come to an end.

However, there was one exception. In the same poll, 51 percent of Americans favored continued U.S. support for military assistance to Israel. And this is for a good reason.

First, let’s define exactly what foreign aid to Israel means. According to a Bloomberg article that Congressman Steve Rothman, D-N.J., wrote last April, Israel receives “military aid only ... (and) there is no economic aid ... other than loan guarantees that continue to be rapid in full and on time.”

In the same article, Rothman states the argument against American military aid to Israel “is not only erroneous, (but) hurts the national security interests of this country and threatens the survival of Israel.”  

Secondly, the arguments for continued American military aid are quite clear and backed up by fact.

To put it in perspective, the total U.S. foreign aid budget of $58.5 billion accounts for roughly 1 percent of the overall federal budget for this fiscal year. Three billion of that goes to security assistance for Israel as part of a 10-year agreement that was signed in 2007.

And President Obama has shown no sign of giving up his support of the security of the Jewish state. On March 1, the president told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations that he “will continue to support the annual U.S. aid to Israel” and that it remains a top priority “in light of the major budget cuts battle underway between Democrats and Republicans.” 

While this budget battle continues to be waged in Washington, I find it alarming that people within my own political party are leading the charge to cut the aid.

Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., has been quite clear about his position that “all aid to foreign countries should be eliminated.”  

Quite frankly, U.S. aid to Israel is a very small part of the overall federal budget and yields dividends that far exceed the initial investment.

In numerous publications, the irrefutable fact is that 75 percent of the military aid is used by the Israeli government to purchase American military equipment.

The purchase of American military equipment equals support for the U.S. defense industry, and it seems quite clear that anyone who argues for the elimination of this aid also wants to eliminate those American jobs.

Whatever lens through which we look at military aid to Israel, the underlying premise of cutting our closest Middle Eastern ally short is quite disturbing. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee makes good arguments in their memos on continued American support for Israel.

One of their arguments seems quite apparent in that “spending a little more than one penny of every federal dollar on preventing wars and the spread of terrorism, disease and poverty is a wise investment.”

Alternatively, support for Israel is truly equated to preserving peace in the Middle East. Another AIPA memo states that U.S. support for Israel since the 1973 Yom Kippur War has helped deter conflict.

History does not lie, and there has not been one major outbreak of a multinational war involving Israel since.

Whatever the case, it seems evident that the writing is on the wall.

If we are going to pull our support from Israel, we better be ready to stand up and fight a much more costly battle in the very near future.


E-mail: cjcaudil@indiana.edu