America Gives Israel Lots of Foreign Aid — And ‘Now For the Rest of the Story’

The army of Israel-haters like to remind us about all the aid the American government gives to Israel. And it’s true: Israel is now given $3.8 billion in annual aid, more than any other country, though less than what Washington has been giving to just two Arab states, Egypt and Jordan. And that $3.8 billion annual aid cannot compare to the estimated six trillion dollars that Washington has spent – wasted – on its nation-building fiascos in two Muslim states, Iraq and Afghanistan. But unlike all the other recipients of American foreign aid, Israel is unique in what it gives back to the United States as a direct result of that aid. Here is what the late Paul Harvey used to introduce thus: “and now — for the rest of the story.”

“Why ‘Foreign Aid’ to Israel Benefits the United States,” by Yoram Ettinger, Algemeiner, April 25, 2023:

The US does not give foreign aid to Israel — the US makes an annual investment in Israel, giving US taxpayers a return of several hundred percent.

While Israel is a grateful recipient of US military systems, it also serves as a battle-tested, cost-effective laboratory for the US defense and aerospace industries (which altogether employ 3.5 million Americans). This enhances US performance on the battlefield and the US economy, national security, and homeland security.

When it comes to advanced airplanes and other weapons, Israel is America’s test kitchen. It actually makes use of these weapons in battlefield conditions. It collects information on their performance – what works, what doesn’t do as well as it might, what needs to be re-thought — and provides that information to the Pentagon. Israeli weapons scientists are constantly working to improve the weapons it receives, including the most advanced aircraft in the American arsenal, and those improvements are of course shared at once with the Americans. Israel’s weapons experts are the equal of any in the world. Given what dangers Israel must contend with, they have to be. And Israel has come up with weapons of its own that turn out to be useful to America and its allies, like the Iron Dome and Iron Beam anti-missile defense systems.

Here are a few examples of how Israel helps the U.S. improve its own security:

The Israeli Air Force flies the US’ Lockheed-Martin’s F-16 and F-35 combat aircraft, providing both Lockheed-Martin and the US Air Force with invaluable information on operations, maintenance, and repairs, which is then used to manufacture a multitude of upgrades for next-generation aircraft. Just the F-16 itself has been improved by several hundred Israeli-driven upgrades, sparing Lockheed-Martin years of research and developments, which amounts to billions of dollars.

On the security front, the US is also trained by Israeli experts in neutralizing car bombs, suicide bombers, and IEDs, and US combat pilots benefit greatly from joint maneuvers with their highly experienced Israeli counterparts.

According to a former head of US Air Force Intelligence, Gen. George Keegan, the US would have to establish five CIAs to procure the intelligence provided by Israel (the CIA’s annual budget is around $15 billion).

Israel’s Mossad is not keeping track of Islamic terrorists worldwide, and “neutralizing” some, only for itself. Jihadists threaten not just Israel, but all the world’s Infidels. And similarly, Iran does not threaten Israel alone, but the Sunni states of the Gulf, European countries, and above all, Iran’s “Great Satan” — that is, the United States. Israeli agents have been responsible for many spectacular acts of derring-do which, for obvious reasons, are not publicly discussed. But the C.I.A., MI6, and the DGSE, are all appropriately grateful for what Israel’s remarkable spy agencies have, both in the past and in the present, provided to the West. And Israel is also understood to be punching far above its weight as a leader in cybersecurity and cyber warfare, as the Americans have good reason to know.

According to the late Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI), who was chairman of the Senate Appropriations and Intelligence Committees, the scope of Israeli intelligence shared with the US exceeded that provided by all NATO countries combined. Israeli intelligence helped foil sinister plots against US airliners and airports, and provided vital data on advanced Soviet/Russian military systems.

Israel is a unique force multiplier for the US, helping to extend America’s strategic reach, so it can secure vulnerable pro-US Arab oil-producing regimes and deter wars and terrorism. With Israel’s help, the US can do this without deploying additional troops, which is not the case with countries like Japan and South Korea, or the 100,000 US troops in Europe.

Gen. Alexander Haig, who served as NATO’s Supreme Commander and US Secretary of State, and Adm. Elmo Zumwalt assessed that “Israel is the largest US aircraft carrier, which does not require American soldiers on board, cannot be sunk, and is deployed in a most critical region — between Europe, Asia and Africa — sparing the US the need to manufacture, deploy and maintain a few more real aircraft carriers and additional ground divisions, which would cost the US taxpayer some $15 billion annually.”…

What Israel provides the US, as an intelligence gatherer, a weapons tester, a relentless improver of those weapons (with hundreds of improvements made by Israeli weapons scientists just to the F-35 fighter jet), a gigantic research-and-development center, an unsinkable aircraft carrier that, without the need for American soldiers or sailors, helps to extend America’s strategic reach in the region, is worth – reread the conclusions of General Keegan, Admiral Zumwalt, General Haig, and Senator Inouye — tens of billions of dollars annually. Israel receives $3.8 billion a year in American aid. It’s a good deal for Israel. And it’s a great deal for the United States.