In an apparent sequel to Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself, Israel's Finance Minister, Yuval Steinitz, declared, as YNetNews puts it, "Israel can do without US economic aid."
What's going on? Roni Sofer explains, "Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz on Sunday lashed back at US special envoy George Mitchell for threatening to freeze loan guarantees given to Israel if the Jewish state failed to make progress in the peace process with the Palestinians. "
Really?
Well you know what?
Thank you. We should take you up on that offer.
In 2004, the second-largest recipient of economic foreign aid from the United States was Israel, second to post-war Iraq. In terms of per capita value Israel ranks first, though other middle eastern countries get US aid as well — Egypt gets around 2.2$ billion per year, Jordan gets around $400 million per year, and the Palestinian Authority gets around 1$ billion per year.[27]
In 2007, the United States increased its military aid to Israel by over 25% to an average of $3 billion per year for the following ten year period, while ending economic aid.[28][29]
In 2007, the United States increased its military aid to Israel by over 25% to an average of $3 billion per year for the following ten year period, while ending economic aid.[28][29]
The US doesn't have that kind of money to be throwing around. If we've got $3 billion per year to give away for the next ten, for example, that's $3 billion that should be put into US schools to improve the quality of life in the United States, thank you very much.
And if the US had any brains, the reply right now would be, "Thank you, Israel, we'll keep our money."