America is helping fund an Apartheid state in Israel … I just had no idea even the Israelis weren’t willing to give more money to protect themselves than we do.  Why should American taxpayers commit more to Israel’s security than Israel’s taxpayers?  And really – it’s much worse than that because the money we have given to the Palestinians, Egypt, and Jordan are all to ensure Israel’s safety.  So … we’re protecting Israel internally and externally and we’re paying way, way more than even the Israeli citizens are willing to pay.

That’s unfathomable to me.  Israel is an Apartheid state which we’ve highlighted many times – most recently HERE.

Consider this article from the Jerusalem Post on 9/11/2012 coming from IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi HERE:

“We must preserve ties with the United States. I believe this is a security necessity,” he said.

In the past three years, he noted, US taxpayers have contributed more to the Israeli defense budget than Israeli taxpayers.

America pays more towards the Israeli defense budget than do the Israelis.  That’s just like WOW.  Now – most people are aware that we give more than $3 billion a year to Israel every single year … but it is actually worse than that.

Veterans News Now explains how screwed up this whole arrangement is HERE:

American taxpayers give Israel over $3 billion per year (over $8 million per day), more than to any other nation, despite the fact that Israel is smaller than New Jersey and is in the top 30 richest countries in the world.

Per capita, Israelis receive $10,000 more U.S. tax money than average.

Some of the other top recipients of US tax money, Egypt and Jordan, were provided this assistance in return for diplomatic recognition of the Israeli state.

According to the Congressional Research Service, Israel is given this money in a lump sum at the beginning of the fiscal year. Americans then pay interest on money they have given to Israel, while Israel makes interest on it.

So – not only do we give Israel $3 billion a year … we pay them interest on the money we give them.  WTF?  That sounded just too ridiculous for me not to fact check.

Well – the Congressional Research Service says HERE:

Early Transfer
For years, Congress has mandated that Israel receive its FMF aid in a lump sum during the first month of the fiscal year. The FY2012 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 112-74) states that “the funds appropriated under this heading for assistance for Israel shall be disbursed within 30 days of enactment of this Act.” Once disbursed, Israel’s military aid is transferred to an interest bearing account with the Federal Reserve Bank. Israel has used interest collected on its military aid to pay down its debt (non-guaranteed) to the United States, which, according to the U.S. Treasury Department, stood at $538.7 million as of March 31, 2011.18 Israel cannot use accrued interest for defense procurement inside Israel.

So – yeah … we pay interest to Israel for the money we give them.  That’s just brilliant.

Comments

comments