US aid to Israel in four charts
JVL Introduction
By any standards the level of US aid to Israel over time has been extraordinary – some $310 billion (adjusted for inflation) in total economic and military assistance of which $230 billion has been military.
Most of the aid—approximately $3.3 billion a year—is provided as grants under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program, which Israel must use to purchase US military equipment and services.
The Israel Lobby (including some 20 million Christian Zionists) plays its part in ensuring the continuation of this phenomenal level of aid, but it is clearly based on a convergence between Israel’s and the US’s imperial interests since the late 1960s.
Some analysts now argue that it is no longer appropriate to continue this level of aid. Among younger people, too, there is now a serious questioning of the levels of aid provided.
But the lobby makes sure that the price of challenging it is politically extremely high, and these is no sign of any reduction any time soon…
RK
This article was originally published by the Council on Foreign Relations on Fri 31 May 2024. Read the original here.
US aid to Israel in four charts
Israel has long been the leading recipient of U.S. foreign aid, including military support. That aid has come under heightened scrutiny amid Israel’s monthslong war to eliminate Hamas.
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