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<h1 class="reader-title">Untold story of US aid to Israel</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">Ramzy Baroud - December 28,
2020<br>
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<p>
On Dec. 21, the US Congress passed the COVID-19 relief
package as part of a larger $2.3 trillion bill intended
to cover spending for the rest of the fiscal year. As
usual, US representatives allocated a vast sum of money
to Israel.</p>
<p>
While unemployment and poverty levels in the US are
skyrocketing as a result of repeated lockdowns,
Washington found it essential to provide Israel with
$3.3 billion in “security assistance” and $500 million
for US-Israel missile defense cooperation.</p>
<p>
Although a meagre $600 payment to help struggling
American families was the subject of several months of
intense debate, there was little discussion among US
politicians over the large funds handed out to Israel,
for which there are no returns.</p>
<p>
Support for Israel is considered a bipartisan priority
and for decades has been perceived as the most stable
item on the US foreign policy agenda. The mere
questioning of how Israel uses the funds — whether
military aid is being actively used to sustain its
illegal occupation of Palestine, finance Jewish
settlements, fund annexation of Palestinian land or
violate Palestinian human rights — is a major taboo.</p>
<p>
One of the few members of Congress to demand that
assistance to Israel be conditional on the latter’s
respect for human rights is Bernie Sanders, the
Democratic senator who has twice sought presidential
nomination for the party. “We cannot give (aid) carte
blanche to the Israeli government — we have the right to
demand respect for human rights and democracy,” Sanders
said in October 2019.</p>
<p>
His Democratic rival Joe Biden, now president-elect,
quickly countered. “The idea that I’d withdraw military
aid, as others have suggested, from Israel is bizarre,”
he said.</p>
<p>
It is no secret that Israel has been the world’s leading
recipient of US aid since the Second World War.
According to the US Congressional Research Service,
Israel has received $146 billion of US taxpayers’ money
as of November 2020.</p>
<p>
From 1971 until 2007, the bulk of these funds proved
fundamental in helping Israel establish a strong
economic base. Since then, most of the money has been
allotted for military purposes, including the security
of Israel’s illegal Jewish settlement enterprise.</p>
<p>
Despite the US financial crisis of 2008, money continued
to be channeled to Israel, whose economy survived the
global recession largely unscathed.</p>
<p>
In 2016, the US promised even more aid. The Obama
administration, often mistakenly seen as hostile to
Israel, increased US funding by a significant margin. In
a 10-year memorandum of understanding, Washington and
Tel Aviv reached a deal whereby the US agreed to give
Israel $38 billion in military aid covering the
financial years 2019-2028. This is a whopping $8 billion
increase compared with the previous 10-year agreement,
which ended at the end of 2018.</p>
<p>
The new US funds fall into two categories: $33 billion
in foreign military grants and an additional $5 billion
in missile defense.</p>
<p>
US generosity has long been attributed to the unmatched
influence of pro-Israeli groups, lead among them the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee. However,
little lobbying has been required by these groups in the
past four years as powerful agents within the
administration itself became Israel’s top advocates.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>
<strong>Despite the US financial crisis of 2008, money
continued to be channeled to Israel, whose economy
survived the global recession largely unscathed.</strong></p>
<p>
Ramzy Baroud</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
Aside from the seemingly endless “political freebies”
that the Trump administration has given Israel in recent
years, it is now considering ways to accelerate the
timetable of delivering the remainder of US funds as
determined by the last agreement, which currently stands
at $26.4 billion. According to official congressional
documents, the US also may approve additional sales of
the F-35 fighter jet, and accelerate delivery of KC-46A
refueling and transport aircraft.</p>
<p>
These are not the only funds and perks Israel receives.
Much more goes unreported since it is channeled
indirectly or simply promoted under the flexible title
of “cooperation.”</p>
<p>
For example, between 1973 and 1991, $460 million of US
funds was allocated to resettling Jews in Israel. Many
of these new immigrants are now the very Israeli
militants who occupy the West Bank illegal settlements.
In this case, the money was paid to a private charity,
the United Israel Appeal, which passes it on to the
Jewish Agency. The latter has played a central role in
the founding of Israel on top of the ruins of
Palestinian towns and villages in 1948.</p>
<p>
Under the guise of charitable donations, tens of
millions of dollars are regularly sent to Israel in the
form of “tax-deductible gifts for Jewish settlements in
the West Bank and East Jerusalem,” according to The New
York Times. Much of the money, falsely promoted as
donations for educational and religious purposes, often
finds its way to funding and buying housing for illegal
settlers, “as well as guard dogs, bulletproof vests,
rifle scopes and vehicles to secure (illegal Jewish)
outposts deep in occupied (Palestinian) areas.”</p>
<p>
Quite often, US money ends up in the Israeli government
coffers under false pretenses. For example, the latest
stimulus package includes $50 million to fund the Nita
M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Funds,
supposedly to provide investments in “people-to-people
exchanges and economic cooperation between Israelis and
Palestinians with the goal of supporting a negotiated
and sustainable two-state solution.”</p>
<p>
Actually, such money serves no particular purpose, since
Washington and Tel Aviv endeavor to ensure the demise of
a negotiated peace agreement and work hand-in-hand to
kill the now-defunct two-state solution.</p>
<p>
The list is endless, though most of this money is not
included in the official US aid packages to Israel and,
therefore, receives little scrutiny, let alone media
coverage.</p>
<p>
As of February 2019, the US has withheld all funds to
the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, in addition
to cutting aid to the UN Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine refugees, the last lifeline providing basic
education and health services to millions of displaced
people.</p>
<p>
Judging by its legacy of support for the Israeli
military machine and the colonial expansion in the West
Bank, Washington insists on serving as Israel’s main
benefactor, if not direct partner, while shunning
Palestinians altogether. Expecting the US to play a
constructive role in achieving a just peace in Palestine
shows not only indefensible naivety but also wilful
ignorance.</p>
<ul>
<li>
<em>Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the editor of The
Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of five books,
the latest being “These Chains Will Be Broken:
Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in
Israeli Prisons” (Clarity Press, Atlanta). Twitter:
@RamzyBaroud</em></li>
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