1) US
military
aid to
Israel
has
continued
to
increase
in
recent
years
and is
now at
an
estimated
$3.5
billion
per
year.
Though a
wealthy
country
with a
high
standard
of
living
and a
powerful
military,
Israel
is the
largest
recipient
of US
military
aid.
Current
pledges
guarantee
extravagant
US
military
aid to
Israel
to
continue
at the
current
or
higher
rates
through
2030.
Total
military
aid
since
1948
tops the
$100
billion
mark.
2) Through a
complicated
formula, a
portion of
US military
aid to
Israel is
used by
Israel to
enhance its
own
arms-export
industry, a
provision
unique to
Israel.
Israel has
become a
major arms
manufacturer
and
exporter,
providing
lavish
income for
Israel's own
budget.
3) The aid
bestowed upon
Israel is not a
straight line
funds transfer.
Rather, a
substantial
portion of US
military aid to
Israel must be
used by Israel
to purchase US
weapons
manufactured in
the US, thus
tying the policy
of military aid
to Israel to the
US arms industry
and American
jobs.
4) US military aid
to Israel subsidizes
the illegal
occupation of
Palestinian land and
the illegal
settlements. A
portion of US
military aid to
Israel, plus
additional loan
guarantees, goes to
building settlements
for Jewish-only
residents. This
occurs through the
illegal confiscation
of Palestinian land
and home demolition.
Jewish-only
settlements surround
every Palestinian
city in the West
Bank, and their
rapid construction,
prohibited by
international law,
has prevented the
creation of a viable
Palestinian state.
5) US Military aid
to Israel transforms
Palestine,
especially Gaza,
into a military
testing ground.
Seventy-five percent
of US military aid
to Israel goes into
purchasing US-made
military equipment,
such as tanks,
machine guns,
bullets, helicopter
gunships, military
aircraft, missiles,
and more. The US
depends on Israel to
test new military
technologies in war
conditions. For
example,
uranium-depleted
ammunition and white
phosphorous have
been fired at
civilians in the
West Bank and Gaza.
6) US Military aid to Israel
violates US law and abuses
human rights. The Foreign
Assistance Act of the United
States states in section 116
that "No assistance may be
provided under this part to
the government of any
country which engages in a
consistent pattern of gross
violations of
internationally recognized
human rights." Israel
engages daily in degrading
and inhumane treatment of
Palestinians, such as
prolonged detention without
charges, strip searches at
checkpoints, beatings,
torture, and home
demolitions. Similarly
section 4 of the Arms Export
and Control Act prevents the
US government from selling
defense articles in
countries that abuse their
use for non-self-defense
purposes. The US State
Department regularly
documents a pattern of
systematic violations of
Palestinian human rights by
IDF personnel, including
numerous instances of
excessive force, including
the use of live ammunition
on civilians and children
when soldiers are not in
danger.
7) US military aid to Israel
militarizes a volatile conflict,
increasing violence, and making
peace and reconciliation more
difficult to attain. Even
Israeli generals and security
chiefs acknowledged, in the
ground-breaking film "The
Gatekeepers", that there was no
military solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
and yet the US continues to
flood this flashpoint zone with
millions of lethal weapons.
8) US military aid to Israel is no
longer needed for Israel's
self-defense, and could be put to
much more productive use meeting
pressing domestic needs in our own
country. The US Campaign to End the
Israeli Occupation has a very
illuminating calculator that reveals
what each community's portion of
redirected military aid could
purchase to meet human needs at
home.
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