US Aid to Israel Is ‘Too Much’ Say 61.9% of Americans

A majority Americans say US foreign aid to Israel is excessive – either “much
too much” (32.5 percent) or “too much’ (29.4 percent). The single-question March
10, 2016 opinion survey
, fielded through Google
Consumer Surveys
, reveals only slight changes since it was first asked on
September
27, 2014
. (For details on sample size, bias and other findings, see the
survey data links above).

grant-040516

While Adult Internet users believing US aid to Israel is either “too little”
or “much too little” increased a net 1.5 percentage points overall, those believing
it to be “too much” or “much too much” rose 1.2 percentage points. Americans
believing aid was “about right” declined 2.6 percentage points.

The US has provided more aid since Israel’s creation in 1948 – $250 billion
adjusted for inflation – than to any other foreign country according to unclassified
government figures
(PDF) adjusted for inflation. These figures do not include
separate funding flows from state and municipal governments that Israel affinity
organizations quietly lobby in order to provide even more aid to Israel. The
quarter-trillion-dollar figure also excludes classified US federal government
support.

American military and intelligence aid is now at “unprecedented” levels according
to President Obama
in a 2015 speech delivered at American University. If
true, secret intelligence support may now have reached an additional $1.9-$13.2
billion annually depending on whether Obama adjusted for inflation. Since annual
military aid is publicly reported, unreported intelligence aid would have to
be within that range in order for the total to truly historically be “unprecedented.”
However, the CIA refuses to disclose how much the Obama administration is secretly
funneling to Israel, a matter now subject to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

Since 1948 – and even more so after the collapse of the Soviet Union – annual
US aid packages to Israel have largely been driven by the lobbying efforts of
Israel affinity organizations in the United States rather than strategic or
national defense calculations. Today, the annual combined revenue of 336 distinct
Israel affinity organizations is closely correlated to the total unclassified
annual US Israel aid package. On a chart, unclassified US foreign aid resembles
an enormous “matching grants” program under which US elected officials, appointees
and captured agencies give away taxpayer dollars in roughly the same amounts
the Israel lobby raises – tax-exempt – in order to advocate, educate, subsidize
and lobby Israel’s priorities in America. Another nonmilitary or intelligence
agency has also played a role in gutting the accountability of Israel affinity
organizations, such as the Weizmann Institute for Science which conducts nuclear

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