More U.S.
Weapons Sold To Israel
 |
|
Five
Black Hawk helicopters were flown to Israel last week,
another 24 will arrive during the next few months
|
OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, August 10 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Israel
Air Force has received the first consignment of the new improved
U.S.-built Black Hawk attack helicopter, according to a report
published in an Israeli newspaper.
A
ceremony was held on Thursday, August 8, at an air force base to mark
the delivery of the first five helicopters, considered
state-of-the-art, according to the radio, reported the Jerusalem
Post.
The
five helicopters were flown to Israel earlier in the week, aboard a
U.S. Air Force Galaxy Transport, the paper quoted Israeli radio.
In
the coming months, the air force will receive another 24 of the
helicopters, the radio said, reported the paper.
The
Post also said that Israel’s military seems to be stepping up
defence against a possible missile strike from Iraq should the United
States launch a military operation against Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein.
According
to the Post, the Israeli army confirmed Friday, August 9, that
it was planning to deploy a second Arrow anti-missile system in the
center of the country, east of the town of Hadera.
The
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WRMEA), a magazine
published 10 times a year in Washington focusing on the region,
published a report on August 6 saying that since 1992, the U.S. has
offered Israel an additional $2 billion in annual loan guarantees.
The
Washington Report is published by the American Educational Trust
(AET), a non-profit foundation incorporated in Washington, DC by
retired U.S. foreign service officers.
According
to the report, congressional researchers have disclosed that between
1974 and 1989, $16.4 billion in U.S. military loans were converted to
grants and that all past U.S. loans to Israel have eventually been
forgiven by Congress.
It
added that U.S. policy since 1984 has been that economic assistance to
Israel must equal or exceed Israel's annual debt repayment to the
United States.
Unlike
other countries, which receive aid in quarterly installments, aid to
Israel since 1982 has been given in a lump sum at the beginning of the
fiscal year, leaving the U.S. government to borrow from future
revenues, it said.
In
addition, there is the more than $1.5 billion in private U.S. funds
that go to Israel annually in the form of $1 billion in private
tax-deductible donations and $500 million in Israeli bonds, added the
report.
The
WRMEA said that total U.S. aid to Israel is approximately one-third of
the American foreign-aid budget, even though Israel comprises just
.001 percent of the world's population and already has one of the
world's higher per capita incomes.
Most
Americans are not aware how much of their tax revenue the U.S.
government sends to Israel, the report added.
"The
U.S. aid relationship with Israel is unlike any other in the
world," said Stephen Zunes, an associate professor of politics
and chair of the Peace and Justice Studies Program at the University
of San Francisco.
"In
sheer volume, the amount is the most generous foreign aid program ever
between any two countries," he added.
Speaking
to IslamOnline in a live Dialogue Paul Findley, a former member of the
U.S. Congress from 1961 to 1983, said that the U.S. has received
barely zero benefits from its alliance with Israel but many handicaps
instead.
“To
describe Israel as Americas only reliable ally in the region is
absurd. Israel does exactly what it wants to do in terms of
territorial expansion and ignores the demands of the U.S.,” he said.
He
added that it is a “sad fact” that most Americans, despite the
flow of information in this age, are “woefully misinformed about the
true situation in the Middle East and the U.S. complicity in
Israel’s subjugation of the Palestinians.”
Findley
added that Bush should be aware of the debt he has for Muslim voters
who backed him during the presidential elections, while most of the
Jews in the U.S. voted for his then opponent Al Gore.
“He
should recognize the likelihood that Jews will likely vote for his
opponent the next time around. I say that because his opponent will
certainly pledge one hundred percent support for what Israel wants and
Jews will certainly remember Bush's statements in behalf of
Palestinian statehood and his reference to the West Bank and Gaza as
occupied territory,” said Findley.
He
added that he is sure that Israel gets more support from the U.S. than
the 3 billion dollar a year that is publicized. “The relationship of
our government to Israel’s illegal behavior can probably be
considered a crime against humanity,” he said.
BENEFITS
TO ISRAEL OF U.S. AID SINCE 1949 (AS OF NOVEMBER 1, 1997)
|
Foreign
Aid Grants and Loans |
$74,157,600,000 |
|
Other
U.S. Aid (12.2% of Foreign Aid) |
$9,047,227,200 |
|
Interest
to Israel from Advanced Payments |
$1,650,000,000 |
|
Grand
Total |
$84,854,827,200 |
|
Total
Benefits per Israeli |
$14,630 |
|
COST
TO U.S. TAXPAYERS OF U.S. AID TO ISRAEL Grand Total |
$84,854,827,200 |
|
Interest
Costs Borne by U.S. |
$49,936,680,000 |
|
Total
Cost to U.S. Taxpayers |
$134,791,507,200 |
|
Total
Cost per Israeli |
$23,240 |
|
|
|
