[Radar]

U.S. Aid To Israel (Part I)
by HonestReporting.com

The Christian Science Monitor delegitimizes and sensationalizes the amount of U.S. foreign aid to Israel.

This year's "Lack of Balance Award" goes to the Christian Science Monitor, for its article, "Economist Tallies Swelling Cost of Israel to U.S." (December 9, 2002)

The article vastly overstates the size of American foreign aid to Israel, saying that Uncle Sam spends twice as much money backing Israel "in its drawn-out, violent dispute with the Palestinians" than it did on fighting in Vietnam. Charitable donations aren't spared the poison pen despite the fact that they're private, because the donations are a "net drain" on America's economy.

The Christian Science Monitor presents wildly exaggerated figures, supplied by economist Thomas Stauffer. The article claims:

- The U.S. has given Egypt $117 billion and Jordan $22 billion in foreign aid in return for signing peace treaties with Israel, and "those outlays are [considered] part of the total package of support for Israel."

- Stauffer tags Israel with the bill for rising oil prices (cost to U.S.: $450 billion), and a U.S. economic recession (cost: $420 billion).

- U.S. charities have supported Israel to the tune of $50-60 billion. Though private in origin, the money is "a net drain" on the United States economy, says Stauffer.

- U.S. policy and trade sanctions against adversarial regimes reduce U.S. exports to the Middle East about $5 billion a year, costing 70,000 or so American jobs, Stauffer claims. Not requiring Israel to use its U.S. aid to buy American goods, as is usual in foreign aid, costs another 125,000 jobs.

- Israel has blocked some major U.S. arms sales, such as F-15 fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia in the mid-1980s, costing the U.S. $40 billion, says Stauffer.

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And how does the Christian Science Monitor balance these overblown claims? With one lone lukewarm sentence: "Many Americans would probably say it is money well spent to support a beleagured [sic] democracy of some strategic interest."

A beleaguered democracy of some strategic interest?! Consider the facts:

- Israel is America's most trusted and reliable ally in the Middle East, the only state in the Middle East that publicly declares support for the U.S. -- despite the fact that Israel may bear the brunt of Saddam's weapons when an American offensive begins.

- Israel is on the frontline in the battle against Islamic terrorists, and provides the U.S. with key intelligence information and frontline military operations. As opinionjournal.com notes: "In 1981 Israel destroyed Iraq's Osirak reactor, setting back Saddam Hussein's quest for nuclear weapons. How much money and how many lives did this end up saving America?"

- Israel is the sole democracy in the Middle East, a region dominated by authoritarian and military regimes. Israel upholds Western ideals of freedom of expression, a free market economy, equal opportunity, women's rights, judicial review, and minority representation in elected offices. The U.S. spends untold billions spreading the ideals of democracy around the world; in Israel, it comes for free.

- The first U.S. President to supply large-scale military aid to Israel was Richard Nixon in 1970, in order to balance against the radical Arab states being financed by the Soviet Union. The U.S.-Israel partnership served its purpose by forcing such East Bloc clients as Egypt's Anwar Sadat to break from the Soviet fold. Having Israel do the dirty work in one of the world's most dangerous regions has, financially for the U.S., been a bargain.

- Israel partners with the U.S. in technological development, medical research, agricultural innovations, and a wide range of cultural exchanges. In addition, many Israeli-developed technologies serve as integral components of the U.S. military arsenal.

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