The impressive numbers for U.S. aid to Israel become even more so when they, and the attached conditions, are compared with other nearby countries.
$3,300,000,000 .. in annual aid to Israel compares with:
$100,000,000 ..... for the Palestinian Authority (PA)
$35,000,000 ....... for Lebanon (annual aid).
Aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) is strictly controlled …for specific projects, mostly civil infrastructure projects such as water and sewers.
On the other hand, the U.S. gives Israel all of its economic aid directly in cash, with no accounting of how the funds are used. The military aid from the DOD budget is mostly for specific projects. Significantly however, considering current events, one of those projects was the development of the Merkava tank, which has been encircling and firing on Palestinian towns in the West Bank and Gaza.
Special mention should also be made of the details of the Wye agreement. All of the $400 million going to the PA under the agreement is economic aid, whereas all of the $1.2 billion for Israel is for military projects and programs. These include $40 million for armored personnel carriers and $360 million for Apache helicopters, again significant considering current events.
[Congress Watch]
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