Washington, Nov 17 (IANS): The US has given Israel military and economic aid totalling a whopping $260 billion since World War II, the highest any country has received from America, $100 billion more than Egypt, the 2nd highest.
The US commitment to Israel is deep rooted. The US has given Israel more than $260 billion in combined military and economic aid since World War II, plus about $10 billion more in contributions for missile defence systems like the Iron Dome, a US News analysis reveals.
Only Egypt comes anywhere close to Israel with just less than $100 billion, the second-highest recipient.
For over 30 years, from 1974 to 2002, Israel was the top recipient of US aid, the longest-standing duration for a top aid recipient dating back to 1946, according to figures from ForeignAssistance.gov.
While 2003 to 2020 saw the most aid going to either Iraq or Afghanistan, Israel nevertheless remained a top three aid recipient throughout that time, US News & World Reports said Friday.
Now, US President Joe Biden has moved a combined proposal in the Congress for $106 billion in military and humanitarian aid to both Israel and Ukraine for their wars against Hamas and Russia, of which the House of Reps has passed $16.3 billion for immediate aid to Israel, the rest is stuck in a two laddered approach proposed by the Republican Speaker Mike Johnson for achieving spending cuts that Democrats oppose.
The October 7 terror attacks by Hamas on Israel called for more aid to Israel.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy's newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, has already been dispatched to the region, and more aid in the form of equipment, resources and munitions is expected to arrive in coming days.
On Monday, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told reporters additional funds from Congress would be necessary to aid both Israel and Ukraine simultaneously.
Most of US aid to Israel has been more military aid than economic. This is in the form of Foreign Military Financing grants – US grants and loans to Israel for acquiring US military equipment and services.
Having to prepare for regular attacks may lead Israelis to take terrorism more seriously compared to other nations. Earlier this year, as part of the survey that drives the Best Countries rankings.
Respondents were asked in a survey to what extent they agreed or disagreed with the statement "terrorism is the most important global issue to solve".
Among Israeli survey takers, 44 per cent strongly agreed with the statement, and 83.5 per cent agreed to any extent. Meanwhile, the global response saw 30 per cent agreeing strongly and 79.5 per cent agreeing to any extent.