US aid to Israel
All it takes to be an antisemite these days is to question why we give Israel so much money.
Of course that’s not all it takes. In fact, it’s a question I’ve asked, too: why so much aid? But when I researched it, I found that the answer made perfect sense.
Before I give the answer, I’ll mention Keith’s second comment today on the subject, after various people responded negatively:
How to prove a point without really trying. Israel firsters are in the room. And your wrong ,we should not give any money to any country. If Israel can have free education and health care, they can pay their own way. ,,flame away
Now, if Keith had led with “we should not give any money to any country,” that would have been a different point and a different argument or discussion. That discussion could be on the purpose of foreign aid, whether it fulfills its purpose, and the merits and/or flaws of the financially isolationist approach (does this include no bases anywhere outside the US, for example?). But that would be switching the argument and is quite different from focusing on US aid to Israel. Plus, of course, one can favor foreign aid for Israel without being an “Israel Firster”: one can believe, for example, that giving aid to Israel is extremely helpful to the US itself.
Any discussion of actual dollar amounts without background about how the aid is given and what is done with it is to leave out almost everything important. So let’s fill in those blanks.
First, a very short summary version:
Next, a longer version. Some excerpts:
Israel is America’s strongest ally in the Middle East. The two nations are bound together not only by interests, but also by the deeply held values they share.
Israel provides a cost-effective alternative to stationing American troops in the region. …
Israel is a major economic and technological ally. Many American companies including Google, Microsoft, Apple, IBM, and Intel operate major research facilities in Israel, and Israel creates hundreds of thousands of jobs in America through trade, investment, and other cooperation. U.S. aid helps Israel defend itself so it can remain a valuable contributor to the American economy.
By 2028, Israel must spend 100% of American aid money on American defense contractors. This spending supports well over 20,000 jobs according to recent estimates.
Israel is talking about phasing out US military aid, so perhaps that 2028 benchmark won’t be reached and the amount of aid will be minuscule or zero. But Israel already gives back a great deal of its aid anyway. Here’s how it works:
In the 2000s, as Israel became more economically self-sufficient, economic aid has dropped off to zero in recent years. Military assistance, meanwhile, has steadily risen to levels of typically over $4 billion annually over the past year.
Most U.S. security assistance to Israel falls under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program.
Israel is a recipient of U.S. FMF, which functions as a grant that a foreign country then must use to purchase weapons and other military platforms manufactured in the United States. …
While Israel uses FMF to make most arms purchases from the U.S., it often buys additional defense articles using its own funds. As of April 2025 Israel had over 750 active FMS cases, valued at $39.2 billion. …
The United States has recognized Israel as a major non-NATO ally since 1987, and bilateral defense cooperation also includes an array of strategic agreements, joint research and development programs, intelligence sharing, and frequent combined training exercises. …
The emphasis on maintaining Israel’s QME [Qualitative Military Edge] is an acknowledgment that—notwithstanding its impressive military and technological capabilities—Israel has several strategic disadvantages vis-à-vis its adversaries, including its limited size and manpower.
Israel does more than give back its aid for the purpose of buying US armaments – which means the money flows back to the US – and it does more than fight US enemies in the Middle East (terrorist entities controlled by Iran, for the most part). Israel also develops weapons and shares these gains with the US:
From tank protection systems to artificial intelligence-powered warfare solutions, Israeli defense firms and research institutions have consistently delivered cutting-edge innovations that have found their way into the American military. Many of these technologies were born out of Israel’s unique security challenges and its need for rapid innovation in urban and asymmetric warfare. The US military has adopted many of Israel’s systems and integrated them into combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and various counterterrorism operations worldwide.
While Israeli innovations have shaped military doctrine and force structures, they have also had a direct impact on individual warfighters, as seen in battlefield medical advancements. The Emergency Bandage—a simple yet highly effective hemorrhage control dressing developed by an Israeli military medic—has saved countless American lives. First introduced in the 1990s, the bandage features a built-in pressure applicator that allows soldiers to treat severe wounds with one hand. …
The Israeli military’s adaptation of the D9 bulldozer into a heavily armored combat bulldozer offered a battlefield-tested model that directly influenced American operations in Iraq. …
Israeli advancements in force protection have dramatically increased the survivability of armored platforms in combat. The Trophy Active Protection System (APS) is one of the most significant Israeli contributions to armored warfare. …
Recognizing the increasing threat of modern anti-tank weapons, the US Army integrated the Trophy APS onto M1 Abrams main battle tanks beginning in 2018. …
Furthermore, as unmanned aerial threats evolve, the Trophy APS is now being adapted to counter drone-based attacks. …
Having faced IED threats for years from Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations, Israel’s counter-IED capability far exceeded that of the United States. Israel shared these technologies with the United States, providing it with vehicle-mounted microwave devices called Dragon Spike and Dragon Spike II to test in Iraq and Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. These devices were not a silver bullet to the IED problem, but they did help jump-start the United States’ counter-IED efforts.
I’ve already quoted a lot from that site, so I’ll stop here because I believe I’ve made my point. But there’s plenty more at the link and I suggest you take a look. Suffice to say that I don’t think there’s a country on earth that helps the US more, militarily. I don’t think any other country is even close.
[ADDENDUM: And by the way, since Keith’s comments were originally on the Massie thread, I thought this would be a good place for a link to a post from Ace today on the topic of Massie’s “principles.”]
Hmm, $4 billion in aid seems like small potatoes when SNAP fraud alone is running about $10 billion per annum.
Charlie Wilson’s War fans will know exactly what I’m talking about.
Double it.
A corollary to this is Trump’s stance on Israel. He has been the most pro-Israel President ever except perhaps for Truman who made the crucial decision to recognize Israel when it was born. This confuses people who regard Trump’s approach to foreign policy as isolationist rather than Jacksonian.
At any rate I believe one reason for his support for Israel is that although yes Israel gets plenty of money from us they also put their own skin in the game – a *lot*. A large proportion of the population serves at least some time in the IDF, including women. This contrasts sharply with, for example, our Western Eurpoean “allies”.
It’s easy it gives us a place to land. Just because Israel has a better than world class military is just icing on the cake.
Flame away indeed.
Check that link to AoS that neo provided. Dan Bongino’s comments are priceless!
Together, Jordan and Egypt receive about the same amount of U.S. foreign aid as Israel. In recent years, Ukraine has been receiving more than four times as much.
Our trolls are pathetic.
Ugh. I had missed Massie’s appearance on TYT. Very disappointing.
Now Raz0rfist weighs in on Massie’s loss and has a brilliant response to the “but Israel” crowd.
https://youtu.be/Iw-aneYBXTw
Keith gave himself away pretty quickly.
He made the unsupported claim “All it takes to be an antisemite these days is to question why we give Israel so much money.”
And after a couple of comments consisting of nothing more than civil disagreement, he immediately pivots to:
“How to prove a point without really trying. Israel firsters are in the room.”
So, his original statement really should have been something to the effect of “all it takes to be an ‘Israel Firster’ these days is disagree with me on whether we should give aid to Israel”.
It’s clear that he’s the one with a problem and is either unconsciously projecting his bigotry onto others as a defense mechanism, or he’s intentionally reversing victim and offender as a propaganda tool.
Either way, his position is untenable.
People can have legitimate concerns about the amount of money we give to other countries (I certainly do), but to single out Israel as he did, pre-emptively claim victim status, and then levy personal attacks against anyone who disagrees with him…those are not legitimate debate tactics, those are the tactics of someone who simply cannot support their opinion with facts and logic.
I will first thank our esteemed host for bringing facts ,not just opinions and ad hominem to the discussion . Maybe Israel firsters was inappropriate , but let’s try IDF .
Ok , I brought up funding for Israel because we were discussing anti semitism and Israel. I can bitch all day about Ukraine and Syria and Egypt and no one comments.
But any criticism of Israel is frequently deemed antisemitic. I could point out that countries don’t have friends , they may have temporary common interest. But not friends.
Israel looks after Israel’s interest first ,as they should. And so should the US.
The fact that it’s just a few billion compared to other amounts of spending , is a poor justification. I will point out that the US is broke , the government just makes up money out of thin air. Deficits cause inflation . The poorest in this country buy weapons for Israel. I’m sorry that bothers me.
I could point out all 3 of my Jewish friends and countless business customers, but that sounds a lot like “ I can’t be racist I have a black friend”
Keith:
“Springtime for Hitler and Germany.
Platner for Senate of Maine.
Jewish space lasers in outer space.
Incels will soon be the master race.”
Song in your head. How’s your Totenkopf?
Well we have Keith’s apologia.
Seeing as the highest earners pay the most tax and out of that a tiny fraction of defense deoartment funds go to israel
But if you want to end the camp david we can cut funds to egypt and israel and whatever we have left over to jordan
Keith says:
“The poorest in this country buy weapons for Israel.”
Stupid on stilts. The poorest in this country pay no federal taxes.
Other than that do you have any argument, beyond that hate thing.
No monies to israel jordan egypt saudi et al fair is fair right much of it is wasted admittedly you were all for doge right
But why do you sound like iranian or chinese propaganda hmm
The spending is trivial compared to the benefits fraud which is now nation wide in excess of trillions. This fraud is not only out right stealing, it is also driving up costs of everything and I mean EVERYTHING. Israel aid is legitimate. The fraud isn’t and is far, far costlier. Let us scoop up bundles of Benjamins before scraping for pennies.
Keith isn’t a drive-by troll, or a troll at all – at least, not as I see it so far. He’s been commenting here off and on for a few years.
Keith:
Not only is the aid we give Israel a drop in the bucket, but most of it comes back to us, and we get a great deal of benefit from it. In fact, it’s probably one of the US’s best investments.
And indeed, “the poorest” here pay no taxes.
The poorest in this country buy weapons for Israel. I’m sorry that bothers me.
==
People whose incomes put them below the 25th percentile of the population seldom if ever have a positive federal income tax liability. The poorest in this country are assessed for payroll taxes, which are routed to a set of dedicated funds which finance Social Security benefits, unemployment compensation, and Medicare. Sales and property taxes do affect the real incomes of the impecunious by their influence on consumer prices and rent, respectively. The federal government does not levy those taxes. Federal corporation taxes may have a small effect on consumer prices and that’s the only avenue through which your proclamation could be true.
Economic ignorance abounds , deficit spending causes inflation , inflation is a hidden tax which hits the poorest people the worst. Honestly , some of you seem willfully ignorant. I repeat ,The poorest are buying weapons for Israel . And Ukraine ,and India and Egypt and UAE , and China and All of South America , most of Europe and anywhere we send money we don’t have.
Keith:
You cannot gaslight or bullshit folks here about who pays taxes in order to “buy” Israel weapons.
Hidden taxes?
What about opportunity costs; if we weren’t throwing that money away on Israel? (sarc x 11)
Stupid on stilts
I expect that Keith would object to any weapons for Israel no matter what the economics are, to say nothing of national (US) interests.
Antisemitic isolationists are quite something. All the world is a problem but he focused on Israel. That is a “tell.”
Om ,,you must be fairly high up in the IDF , I am an isolationist ,so you’re half right. Stupid on stilts ,back atcha.
Neo I apologize for taking up space responding to silly people. I’m done.
Keith doesn’t acknowledge what the IDF has done with the US to Iran in the last year and a half and what the Israeli intelligence assets have done to Iran.
He certainly is less than a bright light and not paying much attention to world events. How or why Keith would assume I was in the IDF is quite the leap of fancy. Stupidity has many facets, not just on taxes and foreign aid.
Keith please explain some more on taxes, it has been quite entertaining. The depth of your wisdom is fantastic; you do know what “fantastic” means, Keith?
I didn’t know the US was giving weapons to the CCP (Communist China) or was Keith referring to Taiwan?
It makes no difference to an isolationist.
Economic ignorance abounds , deficit spending causes inflation , inflation is a hidden tax which hits the poorest people the worst.
==
No. Inflation is a monetary phenomenon.
—-Economic ignorance abounds , deficit spending causes inflation , inflation is a hidden tax which hits the poorest people the worst.
==
No. Inflation is a monetary phenomenon.—-
Correct. Deficit spending causes debt. Debt in itself does not cause or increase inflation.
What causes or increases inflation is increasing the money supply in excess of of available wealth. Money is just a communication tool, it is not wealth. Wealth consists of the products, knowledge and services available to be purchased with that money. If the amount of money increases in relation to the wealth available, the relative value of that money declines – inflation.
Foreign aid accounts for between 1 and 1.5 percent of US government spending, depending on the year.
“Social Spending” such as Medicare and Medicaid, Food Stamps, Social Security, Pell Grants, grants to NGOs, Student Loans, etc. make up about 61 percent (and climbing) of US government spending each year. And I’ve yet to see anyone quote the part of the Constitution that grants congress the power to engage in charitable works.
I don’t think it’s the foreign aid that’s the problem.