How Strong is the Israeli Lobby in America?

 

Israel is the number one recipient of American aid. In proportion to the population, the United States gives each Israeli citizen $500 a year, while other countries that are scorned for dollars provide Estimate how low the aid is, as the United States gives 27 dollars per year to the citizens of the poor country of Haiti, 20 dollars per year to each citizen of Egypt, and 5 dollars per person to each Pakistani. The United States gave Israel 154 billion dollars in direct military aid until 2005. And has given financial assistance. It should be clear that these are not loans but grants.

US-Israel relations were not like this from the beginning. In 1947, Harry Truman definitely supported the UN resolution regarding the partition of the region and immediately after that he recognized Israel, but then this support was limited to the diplomatic and political level. Later, during the era of President Eisenhower The policy remained the same. The American administration was aware that if Israel was embraced and embraced, relations with the Arab countries would deteriorate. The American administration also rejected Israel's request to buy weapons. In September 1953, when the United States demanded that Israel stop digging a canal to stop the water of the Jordan River and Israel did not agree, the American Secretary of State John Foster Dulles provided aid. Threatened to suspend, which worked and on October 27, 1953, Israel stopped work on the project.

The areas occupied by Israel in the Suez Canal War in 1956 were also evacuated after the American threat. But then, during the time of American President John F. Kennedy, Israel became America's next-door child. Kennedy was the Israeli minister. The foreign minister told Goldameyer that "the United States has a special relationship with Israel" and assured that the United States would defend Israel in the event of any attack. In 1964, 200 M48 tanks were given. From 1949 to 1965, the United States was giving Israel 63 million dollars in aid annually, but from 1966 to 1970, the American aid given to Israel increased to 102 million dollars annually.

Until the Yom Kippur War broke out in 1973, Israel was the number one recipient of American aid. In 1971, the United States was giving Israel $634.5 million annually, of which 85 percent was military aid. About one-sixth of the budget allocated under the U.S. goes to Israel alone. Of the $3 billion a year, 75 percent is military aid, which is 2 percent of the U.S. GDP.

Although the annual aid of 3 billion dollars is too much, but the matter does not end here. The former member of the US House of Representatives, Lee Hamilton, revealed that the data related to the US aid given to Israel is not correct and if given in other periods. If the aid is also counted, the United States is giving 4.3 billion dollars to Israel every year. In addition to the aid given at the government level, American citizens also provide funds to Israel on their own. American citizens donate 2 billion dollars to Israel every year. give A society working under the name of Friends of Israel Defense Forces organized a dinner in New York and collected 18 million dollars in one night.

Among the countries receiving US aid, the case of Israel is different because Israel receives aid on easier terms than other countries. Most of the countries receive this aid in the form of quarterly installments, but in 1982, annual foreign A special provision was added to the aid bill that Israel would be paid a lump sum of aid for the entire year within 30 days after the start of the new fiscal year. Since the US budget is running at a deficit, Israel has to borrow money to pay the debt at the beginning of the year, and the US Treasury has to bear an annual loss of 50-60 million dollars in interest payments. This is that the Israeli government, after receiving a lump sum of 3 billion dollars, keeps this money in the American treasury and receives interest on it. The United States has paid an additional 660 million dollars to Israel by 2004. Under the Foreign Military Financing Program, countries receiving aid are obliged to spend this money in the United States, that is, to buy weapons and defense equipment from American companies, but Israel has an exemption to spend one out of every four dollars here and three Take the dollar wherever it wants. Among the countries that receive US aid, Israel is the only country that does not have to give an account. The rest of the countries are given aid in specific periods, such as the AIDS treatment program, the anti-drug program, children's health, etc., but the reason for this exception is It is not possible for the US administration to find out where Israel is spending these funds. How the Israeli lobby is harming America itself, this detail in the next column.