Israel
would not survive as a separate state without the ongoing supply of
arms, aid, and military technology by the United States. Since 1976,
Israel had been the largest annual recipient of U.S. foreign
assistance, totaling $81.3 billion over the last half century and
currently running at about $3 billion a year, with about $1.8
billion a year in Foreign Military Financing (IMF) grants from the
Department of Defense and an additional $1.2 billion a year in
Economic Support Funds (ESF) from the Department of State. 17% of
all U. S. foreign aid is earmarked for Israel.
Israel
is one of the United State's largest arms importers. In the last
decade, the United States has sold Israel $7.2 billion in weaponry
and military equipment, $762 million through Direct Commercial Sales
(DCS), and more than $6.5 billion through the Foreign Military
Financing (IMF) program.
Israel
has the world's largest fleet of F-16s outside the U.S., currently
possessing more than 200 jets. Another 102 F-16s are on order from
Lockheed Martin.
The
United States has also underwritten Israel's domestic armaments
industry, by giving:
-
$1.3 billion to develop the Lavi aircraft (cancelled)
- $625
million to develop and deploy the Arrow anti-missile missile (an
ongoing project)
-
$200 million to develop the Merkava tank (operative); the latest
version, the Merkava 4, uses a German V-12 diesel engine produced
under license in the U. S. by General Dynamics
- $130
million to develop the high-energy laser anti-missile system
(ongoing).
The
U.S. also gives Israel weapons and ammunition as part of the Excess
Defense Articles (EDA) program, providing these articles completely
free of charge. Between 1994-2001 the U.S. provided many weapons
through this program, including:
-
64,744 M-16A1 rifles
-
2,469 M-204 grenade launchers
-
1,500 M-2 0.50 caliber machine guns
-
0.30 caliber, 0.50 caliber, and 20mm ammunition
The
Israeli Arsenal contains, amongst others, the following US weaponry:
50
F-4E Phantoms, 98 F-15 Eagles, 237 F-16 Fighting Falcons, 42 AH-64
Apache Attack Helicopters, 57 Cobra Attack Helicopters, 38 CH-53D
Sea Stallion Helicopters, 25 Blackhawk Helicopters, various missile
systems (Maverick, Hellfire, TOW, Sparrow, Sidewinder, Patriot, and
Harpoon and Anti-Ship Missiles).
Thousands
of Palestinians have thus been killed and tens of thousands been
wounded by American weaponry which by US laws are prohibited from
being used for non-defensive purposes. Israel would, of course,
claim that all its actions are in defence of its security, but this
view is neither shared by human rights organisations nor the UN
whose employees have also been amongst the casualties.
Speaking
at a briefing of the Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine (CPAP)
in May 2002, Thomas Stauffer, an international oil and finance
consultant, added to these direct costs the indirect costs to the
American public for their governments uncritical support of Israel,
citing the need for foreign aid to other countries as a result of
America's support for Israel and the billions of dollars in lost
trade, contracts, jobs, and business ventures in the Middle East.
U.S
aid to Turkey, which amounts to billions of dollars annually, is
linked to Turkey's relationship with Israel, which in turn is linked
to U.S. policy toward Israel. Billions of dollars in U.S. aid to
Central Asian countries, under the pretext of promoting emerging
democracies, are part of U.S. efforts to confine Iran, which again
is tied to U.S. policy toward Israel. The same applies to the
countries of the Caucasus. Contributions by Jewish organizations and
individuals are another element of consequential aid to Israel.
These latter contributions, averaging from $1-1.5 billion are tax-deductible.
Then
there are other, even harder to track forms of aid because there is
no government overview. One example comes from the Central Bank of
Israel's statistics which show that in the 1980s the United States
bailed out the Israeli banking system at a cost of $10‑12
billion. Americans probably never knew this because there is no
trace of the money in American records. Israel has never returned
the money and is unlikely to be asked to return it. Furthermore, the
United States has undertaken loan guarantees from various sources
totalling about $10 billion, of which $7 billion have been
initialled. Stauffer called this a "contingent liability"
on the United States, because Israel has no prospect of repayment.
Jewish
immigration from Russia to Israel, also a hidden cost, is subsided
by the United States with some $60-100,000 million annually. And
then there are the losses to U.S. military institutions. According
to Stauffer, the United States has poured billions of dollars into
Israeli military technology, technology that is in direct
competition with that of the U.S., citing the Israeli Lavi fighter
program and Arrow missile system as examples. Israel enjoys large
discounts on what are considered "surplus" U.S. arms, and
Israeli military firms have the upper hand in relationships with
U.S. military firms. U.S. contractors are required to subcontract
Israeli firms for military components, subcontracts that would
otherwise have gone to American firms. Furthermore, for every dollar
of military equip ment the United States gives Israel, the United
States buys 60 cents worth of Israeli equipment. The difference here
is that while the United States pays with real money, Israel does
not.
Another
"consequential" cost to the U. S. economy with a potential
price tag of $20-30 billion a day is the oil supplies guarantee.
Should Israel's oil supply be cut off, the United States guarantees
to provide Israel with oil regardless of U.S. oil supply levels.
Another
hidden cost to the U. S. economy with a direct effect on the
American people is trade losses with Israel and with those countries
Israel perceives as hostile. Stauffer's data reveal that the United
States' trade deficit with Israel is about $5-5.5 billion. One
reason for this is that Israel, for example, can buy textile from
China, re-label it, and sell it to the
United
States duty-free. But the real reason behind the losses, said
Stauffer, is the trade imbalance between the United States and Israel.
While the United States pays
real money for its imports from Israel, Israel does not pay real
money for its imports from the United States. The result is an annual
trade imbalance of just under $10 billion. In terms of jobs, that
comes to about a quarter of a million American jobs lost.
U.S.
sanctions on Libya, Syria, Iran, and Iraq-sanctions linked to U.S.
policy toward Israel are costing the U.S. economy about $14 billion
annually in potential trade, Stauffer added, basing his calculations
on trade and economic studies. The sanctions, which only affect U.
S. companies and not their competitors, translate into 500,000 to
600,000 in lost U.S. jobs. U.S. policy toward Iraq, presented to the
American people in terms of protecting Gulf oil supplies, is really
meant to weaken Iraq, seen by Israel as a potential threat. The
Israeli lobby in the United States has foiled major U.S trade
contracts with Arab and Muslim countries, like the 1980s aircraft
sales contract with Saudi Arabia that cost the U.S. economy between
$20-25 billion annually.
In
return Zionist organisations in the United States sweeten the pill
by providing political financing for Democrats and Republicans
during election campaigns. The American public, on the other hand,
are the net losers.
Author: Islamic
Party of Britain
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Date Published: June
2002 |
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