Washington is preparing to increase
US aid to Israel by billions of dollars, with a ten-year ironclad agreement
that couldn’t be altered by President Obama’s successor. But that isn’t good
enough for Bibi Netanyahu. He wants more. Much more.
Unlike the case with other countries, the US engages in protracted and often
difficult negotiations with Israel over how much free stuff they’re going to
get come budget time. This year, the talks are taking on a particularly urgent
tone because of … you guessed it, Donald Trump. While Trump is fervently pro-Israel,
he has said that the Israelis, like our NATO allies, are going to have to start paying for their
own defense (although with him, you
never know what his position is from one
day to the next). This uncertainty has the two parties racing to sign an
agreement before President Obama’s term is up in January. And it also has inspired
the inclusion of a novel clause: a ten-year guarantee that aid will remain at
the agreed level, with no possibility that the new President – whoever that
may be – will lower it.
The Israelis currently
receive over half the foreign aid doled out by Uncle Sam annually, most
of it in military assistance with an extra added dollop for “refugee resettlement.”
That combined with loan guarantees comes to roughly $3.5 billion per year –
with all the money handed to them up front, in the first weeks of the fiscal
year, instead of being released over time like other countries.
So how much is this increase going to amount to? With negotiations still ongoing,
the US isn’t releasing any solid figures, although Bibi, we are told, is demanding
$5 billion annually. The New York Times is reporting
the final sum could “top $40 billion.” What we do know is that the administration
told Congress in a letter that they are prepared to offer Tel Aviv an aid package
“that would constitute the largest pledge of
military assistance to any country in US history.” In addition, it would guarantee
US aid for Israel’s missile defense, taking it out of the annual appropriations
song-and-dance, and immunizing it from any cuts.
Aside from the “haggling” – as the Times
put it – over the amount, there is another issue: the Israeli exception to a
rule that applies to all other recipients of American aid. Other countries must
spend their welfare check in dollars – that is, they must buy American. Not
the Israelis. They’re allowed to spend up to 25% of their aid package at home:
which means that US taxpayers have been subsidizing the Israeli military-industrial
complex to the tune of multi-billions since the 1980s, when this special arrangement
was legislated. However, in an era where “America First” is now a popular political
slogan – popularized by You Know Who – the Obama administration…