For all the talk about the deterioration in relations between the US and Israel, Washington is promising Tel Aviv that the new military aid agreement between the two nations that is currently being negotiated will constitute the single largest military assistance package — with any country — in American history. US National Security Adviser Susan Rice said a 10-year aid program would give Israel up to $40 billion to upgrade its military aircraft and missile defense systems. Still, Israel wants more. Having failed to persuade the US not to sign a nuclear deal with Iran last year, Israel is asking for an increase - as much as $5 billion a year for the next 10 years. The White House is offering something under $4 billion. A sticking point in the long-term aid package is the strained relationship and mistrust between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Some of Netanyahu's advisers, worried about Obama's replacement, have urged him to accept the US offer soon. Netanyahu and his aides are watching the US election with confusion and concern, unsure of Donald Trump and uneasy over Hillary Clinton. Some advisers are, therefore, urging him to seal a military aid package with Obama, though someone he has long mistrusted, because it would be risky for Israel to let the existing agreement run out without knowing the drift of the future administration. But again, if the dispute over an increase persists, the government might await the next US president in hope of getting a better MOU. By feuding with Obama over Iran's nuclear program and Palestinian peace talks, Netanyahu is endangering American largesse which is generous to the extreme. According to the Congressional Research Service's report "US Foreign Aid to Israel", since the 1973 October War, Washington has provided Israel with a level of support dwarfing the amounts provided to any other state. It has been the largest annual recipient of direct US economic and military assistance since 1976 and the largest total recipient since World War ll. Total direct US aid to Israel amounts to well over $140 billion in 2003 dollars. Israel receives about $3 billion in direct foreign assistance each year, which is roughly one-fifth of America's entire foreign aid budget. In per capita terms, the United States gives each Israeli a direct subsidy worth about $500 per year. This largesse is especially striking when one realizes that Israel is now a wealthy industrial state with a per capita income roughly equal to South Korea or Spain. So why should the US pay more than the current $3.1 billion per year for Israel's military? Israel is on the same level economically. The US provides invaluable intelligence assistance. It goes to bat for Israel in international forums. It has completed a nuclear deal with Iran that Israel's military acknowledges makes Israel safer. So why any increment to "compensate" Israel? Maybe a billion dollars will offset another billion that Israel can then spend on illegal settlements in occupied territory. Why does Israel need F-35s to counter knife and car ramming attacks against an illegal occupier? While the US provides Israel $10.2 million in military aid each day, it gives the Palestinians zero dollars in military aid. What exactly is it that the US gets in return for this endless annual donation of billions of its scarce dollars? The American public should demand an explanation for why they are being joined at the hip with Israel and why this endless outflow of their dollars takes precedence over their own domestic needs. America giving Israel assistance is not an inalienable right as Israel presumes. It's time that US taxpayers come to the realization that billions of their hard-earned money are going to a country which does not respect international law yet continues to preach democratic principles to the rest of the world.
