Peace Facts

compiled by Lisa Ann Pierce, WAMM

U.S. Aid to Israel

The corporate media regularly portrays the U.S. as a neutral power broker frustrated in its attempts to bring peace to the Middle East. Neutral? Certainly not if you consider economic and military aid to Israel, which can be counted in billions of U.S. dollars. The following information on U.S. aid to Israel was compiled from the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (www.wrmea.com).

The United States is Israel's single largest donor. Germany has given the second highest amount of economic and military aid to Israel. But Germany recently suspended arms sales to Israel in the face of Israeli aggression against the Palestinians. Other European nations are reviewing their aid packages. Apparently, no such review has begun in the U.S. Congress or Administration.

U.S. aid to Israel, 1949 to November 1, 1997

Foreign aid grants and loans	$74,157,600,000
Other U.S. aid (12.2% of foreign aid)	$9,047,227,200
Interest to Israel from advanced payments	$1,650,000,000
Grand total	$84,854,827,200

Cost to U.S. taxpayers of U.S. aid to Israel, 1949 to November 1, 1997

Total U.S. aid to Israel (see above)	$84,854,827,200
Interest costs borne by the U.S.	$49,936,680,000
Total cost to U.S. taxpayers	$134,791,507,200

"Receiving its annual foreign aid appropriation during the first month of the fiscal year, instead of in quarterly installments as do other recipients, is another special privilege Congress has voted for Israel. It enables Israel to invest the money in U.S. Treasury notes. That means that the U.S., which has to borrow the money it gives to Israel, pays interest on the money it has granted to Israel in advance, while at the same time Israel is collecting interest on the money."

­Richard H. Curtiss, WRMEA.

Israel's portion of U.S. foreign aid budget: approximately one-third
Israel's portion of the world's population: .001
Israel is the sixteenth wealthiest country in the world.
Israel's gross national product (GNP) outweighs the combined GNP of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank, and Gaza.
Israel's per capita income exceeds that of Saudi Arabia.

Comparing U.S. Aid, 1949-1996

U.S. aid to Israel, 1949-1996	$62,500,000,000
U.S. aid to the combined nations of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, 1949-1996	$62,497,800,000

U.S. aid to combined nations of sub-Saharan Africa 1949-1996	$24,415,700,000
1995 combined population of sub-Saharan nations of Africa	568 million people
Per capita aid to sub-Saharan Africa, 1949-1996	approximately $43

U.S. aid to combined nations of Latin America and the Caribbean, 1949-1996	$38,254,500,000
1995 combined population of Latin America and the Caribbean	486 million people
Per capita aid to Latin America and the Caribbean, 1949-1996	approximately $79

U.S. aid to Israel, 1949-1996	$62,500,000,000
1995 population of Israel	5.8 million people
Per capita aid to Israel, 1949-1996	approximately $10,775

:In other words, "for every dollar the U.S. spent on an African, it spent $250.65 on an Israeli, and for every dollar it spent on someone from the Western Hemisphere outside the United States, it spent $214 on an Israeli."

­Stephen Zunes, WRMEA.

According to Stephen Zunes, "Israel has funneled arms to third countries that the U.S. [could] not send arms to directly, . . . like South Africa, like the Contras, Guatemala under the military junta, [and] Iran."

Former Israeli major general and Knesset member Matti Peled identifies U.S. aid to Israel as "little more than an American subsidy to U.S. manufacturers." Indeed, according to Zunes, "the majority of military aid to Israel is used to buy weapons from the U.S. Moreover, arms to Israel create more demand for weaponry among Arab states." Zunes also writes: "the Israelis announced back in 1991 that they support the idea of a freeze in Middle East arms transfers, yet it was the United States that rejected it."

Peled and Zunes also agree that U.S. aid pushes Israel toward intransigence in the peace process.

Palestinian Detainees

Amnesty International released the following statement in April: "Amnesty International is concerned for the safety of more than one thousand Palestinians detained by Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), during the past week in refugee camps and towns in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Some Palestinians have been reportedly tortured by being beaten or held for prolonged periods in painful positions. All detainees are reportedly being held in conditions which amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. A Military Order has just been issued denying access of detainees to lawyers. Detainees are being held at a number of IDF military camps and settlements, but the IDF will not reveal the names of those they have arrested and where they are located."