Today President Obama just handed Israel another $205 million gift of American taxpayer money. Beyond the $3+ billion the United States gives Israel annually without question or oversight, this extra gift is intended to subsidize an Israeli missile defense system called “Iron Dome” built entirely by Rafael Advanced Systems, one of Israel’s larger defense contractors.
This little present comes immediately on the heels of Israel’s acceptance into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development – a club for the 31 richest nations in the world.
Aside from the many questions raised after Israel’s slaughter of civilians in Lebanon and Gaza, its refusal to stop building illegal settlements, the demolition of Arab homes in East Jerusalem, and its open hostility to American efforts to restart peace talks, this no-strings-attached gift begs an additional question – why are we giving an ostensibly rich nation our money?
Most taxpayers may not realize it, but American costs of subsidizing Israel’s military are enormous. Massachusetts taxpayers alone will spend $870 million over the next 8 years on military aid to Israel. Our neighbors in Rhode Island will have $130 million diverted to Israel – enough to pay for health care for 10% of the state.
Here in Massachusetts the money siphoned off taxpayers could provide 10,000 families with housing grants each year, job training for almost 15,000 unemployed workers, could fund early education for 26,000 children, or primary health care for 721,000 citizens. Why are the Tea Party patriots not in revolt over this?
In a time of extreme economic distress, this spending is simply reckless. And it does nothing to ensure Israel’s long-term security. Only by pressuring Israel to go back to honestly-brokered talks with the Palestinians will that nation ever become more secure.
In squandering American tax money to subsidize an Israeli defense boondoggle, we are throwing away any leverage on Israel to solve this issue once and for all. Instead, we are signaling to the Palestinians and Israel’s Arab neighbors that the United States has no intention of being honest peace brokers. Next to Iraq and Afghanistan/Pakistan, our ongoing military support of Israel and its occupation of Palestinians is (and is rightly seen as) a third war.
But, worst of all, we are stealing money from our own citizens. If American taxpayers begrudge arts programs in the schools, satellite library locations and wonder where all their tax money is going, here’s a good place to start tightening the belt. Tell your congressman it’s time to pull the plug on military aid to Israel. For that matter, we could stand to reign in our own “defense” spending.
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