From commenter “Keith”:

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.”]