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How Much Does Israel Depend On American Aid?
Many talk-backers and writers of articles on the web, seemingly believe that if America ceased to give aid to Israel, that the Israeli economy would collapse.
Such comments are totally fallacious and only display ignorance, with many of them perhaps being based on simple wishful thinking.
According to the Congressional Research Service, the following fifteen countries were the top recipients of U.S. Foreign Aid for fiscal year 2004.
1) Iraq - $18.44 billion
2) Israel - $2.62 billion
3) Egypt - $1.87 billion
4) Afghanistan - $1.77 billion
5) Colombia - $570 million
6) Jordan - $560 million
7) Pakistan - $390 million
8) Liberia - $210 million
9) Peru - $170 million
10) Ethiopia - $160 million
11) Bolivia - $150 million
12) Turkey - $150 million
13) Uganda - $140 million
14) Sudan - $140 million
15) Indonesia - $130 million
Compare the above to this;
WASHINGTON – President George W. Bush's administration will submit its proposed budget for US foreign aid in 2008 to Congress on Wednesday, requesting USD 20.27 billion - a more than 12 percent increase in foreign aid from 2007, and Lebanon to receive some USD 52 million, Israel to get USD 2.4 billion.
Please note that the amount intended for Israel in 2008 was less than the 2004 figure.
A closer look at the aid figures reveals a lot more than is obvious on the surface however.
Israel's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.6 percent in the first quarter of 2006 and is presently said to be GDP: $161.9 billion.
So U.S. aid to Israel of 2.62 billion represents only 1.6% of Israel's GDP.
Meaning that the withdrawal of 1.6% of Israel's GDP would hardly make a dent in its strong economy, let alone destroy it.
A next point of interest is that all of the aid given to Israel by the US is military aid.
That's right, ALL of it is military aid.
Following an initiative that was introduced by Benjamin Netanyahu when he was Prime Minister between June 1996 to July 1999, civilian aid was steadily reduced and completely ended in 2008.
The U.S. will supply Israel with $2.4 billion in military aid this year, but 80% of that money must be spent on purchasing arms from American companies, and it's worth noting that Israel’s total defense expenditure was reportedly $16.2 billion last year.
Israel was the top defense spender relative to its population in 2008, with the government shelling out more than $2,300 per person, over $300 more than the US, which boasts the second largest ratio.
So what would happen to Israel if it didn't get $2.4 billion dollars of military aid from the U.S. ?
Much less than you'd probably expect.
Israel became the world's fourth largest arms exporter in 2007, after signing contracts worth $4.3 billion, according to the Defense Ministry, and only the U.S.A., Russia and France export more arms.
As a pre-condition for receiving military aid from the U.S. Israel is forbidden from exporting much of its home developed weaponry to a whole list of countries.
It is also forbidden from buying from certain countries, and from developing certain projects that it would otherwise develop.
If America canceled military aid to Israel it would cause major job losses in the U.S. and Israel would start buying and selling to countries that are presently closed to it, and it would also develop weapons' systems that it presently has on hold.
I have used the latest and most reliable figures that I could find, but if anybody has more recent figures then please give me a link to them.
Such comments are totally fallacious and only display ignorance, with many of them perhaps being based on simple wishful thinking.
According to the Congressional Research Service, the following fifteen countries were the top recipients of U.S. Foreign Aid for fiscal year 2004.
1) Iraq - $18.44 billion
2) Israel - $2.62 billion
3) Egypt - $1.87 billion
4) Afghanistan - $1.77 billion
5) Colombia - $570 million
6) Jordan - $560 million
7) Pakistan - $390 million
8) Liberia - $210 million
9) Peru - $170 million
10) Ethiopia - $160 million
11) Bolivia - $150 million
12) Turkey - $150 million
13) Uganda - $140 million
14) Sudan - $140 million
15) Indonesia - $130 million
Compare the above to this;
WASHINGTON – President George W. Bush's administration will submit its proposed budget for US foreign aid in 2008 to Congress on Wednesday, requesting USD 20.27 billion - a more than 12 percent increase in foreign aid from 2007, and Lebanon to receive some USD 52 million, Israel to get USD 2.4 billion.
Please note that the amount intended for Israel in 2008 was less than the 2004 figure.
A closer look at the aid figures reveals a lot more than is obvious on the surface however.
Israel's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.6 percent in the first quarter of 2006 and is presently said to be GDP: $161.9 billion.
So U.S. aid to Israel of 2.62 billion represents only 1.6% of Israel's GDP.
Meaning that the withdrawal of 1.6% of Israel's GDP would hardly make a dent in its strong economy, let alone destroy it.
A next point of interest is that all of the aid given to Israel by the US is military aid.
That's right, ALL of it is military aid.
Following an initiative that was introduced by Benjamin Netanyahu when he was Prime Minister between June 1996 to July 1999, civilian aid was steadily reduced and completely ended in 2008.
The U.S. will supply Israel with $2.4 billion in military aid this year, but 80% of that money must be spent on purchasing arms from American companies, and it's worth noting that Israel’s total defense expenditure was reportedly $16.2 billion last year.
Israel was the top defense spender relative to its population in 2008, with the government shelling out more than $2,300 per person, over $300 more than the US, which boasts the second largest ratio.
So what would happen to Israel if it didn't get $2.4 billion dollars of military aid from the U.S. ?
Much less than you'd probably expect.
Israel became the world's fourth largest arms exporter in 2007, after signing contracts worth $4.3 billion, according to the Defense Ministry, and only the U.S.A., Russia and France export more arms.
As a pre-condition for receiving military aid from the U.S. Israel is forbidden from exporting much of its home developed weaponry to a whole list of countries.
It is also forbidden from buying from certain countries, and from developing certain projects that it would otherwise develop.
If America canceled military aid to Israel it would cause major job losses in the U.S. and Israel would start buying and selling to countries that are presently closed to it, and it would also develop weapons' systems that it presently has on hold.
I have used the latest and most reliable figures that I could find, but if anybody has more recent figures then please give me a link to them.
Tags: aid, arms, civilian, defense, domestic, exporter, foreign, gdp, gross, israel
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