As the war started by hamas against Israel continues, much is being made of the fact that Israel is the single largest recipient of United States aid in the world. More than any other country.
“Yeah, that’s great for Israel”, the argument goes, “but what does the United States get out of it?”
This is a very fair question. So let’s address it.
Here is part of your answer, via these excerpts from Yoram Ettinger’s June 14, 2021 article for the Jewish News Syndicate (jns.org), titled “How does the US benefit from aid to Israel? Let us count the ways”:
The remarkable performance of Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system during the May 2021 Gaza war against Hamas terrorists was another milestone in the mutually beneficial U.S.-Israel alliance.
The Iron Dome was fully developed by Israel, mostly funded by the United States, and co-manufactured by Israel and (mostly) the United States. Upon completion of the development by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the game-changing technology was shared with the U.S. defense giant Raytheon, sparing the United States many years and billions of dollars of research and development.
Moreover, the Iron Dome’s performance during the recent Gaza War has raised the interest of several countries (e.g., South Korea, Japan, Singapore, India, Poland, the Baltic states and Latin American countries) in acquiring the system, which would increase U.S. exports and expand the employment base of the U.S. defense industry.
Israel’s swift victory over Egypt, Syria and Jordan in 1967 devastated the pro-USSR and anti-U.S. Egyptian military, which had attempted to overtake the pro-U.S. Arab oil-producing countries, at a time when the United States was heavily dependent upon Persian Gulf oil. The Israeli victory denied the USSR a strategic bonanza and spared the United States a national security and economic calamity
Israel is the most productive, cost-effective, battle-tested laboratory for the U.S. defense industries and armed forces, as demonstrated by the F-35, F-16 and F-15 fighter jets—as well as by hundreds of additional U.S. military systems employed by Israel. This unique Israeli combat experience has promoted U.S. military systems throughout the world, advancing U.S. exports.
Israel is the most productive external source of military intelligence for the United States, exceeding all NATO countries combined (e.g., the entire Iranian nuclear archive; battle tactics of potential and actual enemies; advantages and disadvantages of hostile military systems; counter-terrorism; and preempting Middle East flare-ups). Israel has assisted in foiling anti-U.S. terrorism and attempts to topple pro-U.S. Arab regimes.
According to Gen. George Keegan, a former chief of U.S. Air Force Intelligence: “I could not have procured the intelligence [received from Israel] with five CIAs.” In order to realistically assess the magnitude of Israel’s contribution to U.S. intelligence, one should note that the annual budget of the CIA is about $15 billion.
There’s more. Much more. That is why I hope you read Mr. Ettinger’s entire piece and others like it which provide much additional information along these lines. Like this, for example. And so many more.
If you do, I strongly suspect you will conclude – correctly – that not only is US aid to Israel worthwhile, it is a bargain; i.e. there is an excellent argument to be made that we get more from Israel in return than the $$$ we send there.
I’ll end by asking how many other US aid recipients you can name that provide anywhere remotely close to what Israel provides in return?
Can you name even one? I didn’t think so.
