Ozzie writes, “Don’t think the 3billion + US dollars Israel gets from US taxpayers comes at no expense. When you cash the check, you get a US politician in your government closet checking on his “investment.”
True enough, but I’ll add a few qualifiers. Egypt, Jordan and the PA collectively get more annually than does Israel. Yet the US does no more than respectively suggest that they do so and so; Israel is seen as a more vulnerable, and thus more pliable client.
What’s not known by most is that Netanyahu during his first term as PM set the aid from the US to be reduced over time. It was under Olmert that aid started going back up. But even if the aid – in total less than 2% of Israel’s GNP – were turned back with a “thanks, but no thanks”, there’s no guarantee aid to Israel’s neighbors would be similarly eliminated. What does Egypt do with most of its aid? Buy weaponry.
