The founding of the state of Israel was based on firmly-heldviews of Jewish history but new research questions some of its mostfundamental principles. Additionally, the United States taxpayer allegedlygives Israel $3 billion per year-$1.2 billion in economic aid and $1.8billion in military aid-is misleading, about one-sixth of total U.S. foreign aid. Yet thetrue figure is even more remarkable, with estimates ranging as high as$5.5 billion tax payer dollars per year.
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Aid to Israel from 1949 to 2001:
According to an October 27 Congressional ResearchService (CRS) report, cumulative aid to Israel from 1949 through fiscalyear (FY) 2000 was $81.38 billion. This number is too low because it omits”hidden” funds. While it includes the $1.2 billion promised to Israel inthe Wye River Memorandum, the old Food for Peace program, and the currentsubsidy for “refugee resettlement,” it omits money from the DOD budgeton the grounds that those funds are for research and development projectsthat benefit both the United States and Israel-a questionable premise.The CRS total also excludes estimated interest on the early disbursementof aid.
Building up from the amount listed in theCRS, I have included-with details to follow-$4.28 billion from the DODand $1.72 billion from interest accrued due to early aid disbursement.This comes to a total of $87.38 billion through September 30 of this year(the end of FY 2000). Add to this amount the $3.98 billion for FY 2001:This number includes $840 million in economic aid, $1.98 billion in militaryaid, $60 million for refugee resettlement, $250 million from the DOD budget,and $85 million in interest. The resulting grand total of the above calculationsis $91.36 billion in aid to Israel through FY 2001. More