Cancellation of US Aid is good for Israel

Cancelling US Aid to the Middle East: Israel as the Main Beneficiary

We, the undersigned Jews from Israel, welcome the motion to discontinue US aid to the Middle East. We are convinced that Israel stands to benefit the most from such a measure.

Thus far, the most discussed negative impact of American aid consisted of the following:

1. Current US aid to us is de facto conditioned by aid to our enemies; and

2. The aid prevents the growth and development of Israeli arms producers in fair competition with foreign military imports.

These points alone provide a sound enough reason for us to look for ways to stop the aid programs. But the most significant and dangerous consequence of American aid involves the limitations foisted upon us in connection with ways of taking military action.

Aid from the USA is, first of all, the aid provided by American bureaucrats for Israeli special interest parties or groups. These last use the aid – or, more precisely, the threat of its stoppage – as an instrument for pressuring the people and their democratically elected government. The damage resulting from this is obvious, and by far greater than the benefits.

During the last few decades, the threat of losing American aid has become one of the key arguments wielded in Israel’s inner political discussions. It is used to explain countless steps taken by the government which are all too obviously detrimental to our security, or simply to our national dignity. Taking into account our neighbors’ Eastern mindset and mentality, this last point is tantamount to further lowering the level of our security (note the thinking along the lines of: “He who is humiliated is he who is weak, so finish him off!”).

Let us then add this to the list of the negative effects:

3. The aid encourages and promotes coalitions which work to undermine the incentives for the security forces to defend our people and our country. For example, officers are unambiguously threatened with criminal prosecution “in reward” for clearly successful defense moves on behalf of the security of the people of Israel.

Therefore, simultaneously discontinuing aid to Israel and to her hostile neighbors is a measure worth fighting for, first of all, from the point of view of the Jews themselves. The measure will considerably augment Israel’s advantages, especially if combined with the long discussed economic reforms, opposed by the same special interest groups, trade unions, and small traffickers fed along the way by the state budget.

Dr. Moshe Yanovskiy, economist, +972-9-794-1801

Mrs. Asya Entov, sociologist

Dr. Yehoshua Socol, physicist

Mr. Vitaly Vovnoboy, software engineer

Mr. Avigdor Jardeni, economist