Israel has a population of approximately 7.7 million, or a million fewer than the state of New Jersey. It is among the worlds most affluent nations, with a per capita income similar to that of the European Union.[1] Israels unemployment rate of 6.3% is much better than Americas 8.2%,[2] and Israels net trade, earnings, and payments is ranked 146th in the world while the US sits at a dismal 193rd.[3] Yet, Israel receives more of America’s foreign aid budget than any other nation.[4] The US has, in fact, given more aid to Israel than it has to all the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean combined—which have a total population of over a billion people.[5] This report was produced by If Americans Knew analysts, particularly Pamela Olson, a Presidents Scholar at Stanford University 1998-2002 with a major in physics, a minor in political science, and author of a book based on her three years in the West Bank. Olson previously worked as a research analyst at the Institute for Defense Analysis. The report updates the 1998 work by Richard Curtiss, The Cost of Israel to U.S. Taxpayers, published in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Mr. Curtiss, following military service in World War II, served for 30 years as a career Foreign Service Officer. He received the U.S. Information Agencys Superior Honor Award and the Edward R. Murrow award for excellence in Public Diplomacy, USIAs highest professional recognition. And foreign aid is just one component of the staggering cost of our alliance with Israel. Given the tremendous costs, it is critical to examine why we lavish so much aid on Israel, and whether it is worth Americans hard-earned tax dollars. But first, lets take a look at what our alliance with Israel truly costs.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 16:29:38 +0000
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