mcarthur_28-30_Congress Watch 9/17/15 6:27 PM Page 29
these guarantees since FY ’05. In 2012 Haaretz quoted an Israeli official as saying “we consider the loan guarantees as preparation for a rainy day…a safety net for war, natural disaster and economic crisis.” In June 2013 Defense News reported that Israeli defense officials were considering asking for $5 billion in new loan guarantees to cover the purchase of additional military hardware, but there has been no further reporting about this, so it may not be happening.
Subsidies for Israel’s Colonists and Colonies A real benefit to Israel that is an unquantifiable cost to the U.S. taxpayer is the private, tax-exempt money, probably hundreds of millions of dollars, that has been collected by charitable U.S Jewish and Christian groups that then send the money to support Israel’s colonists (“settlers”) and colonyrelated causes, including groups designated by the U.S. as foreign terrorist organizations. Since every tax-exempt dollar that goes to the colonies represents a loss of, conservatively, 20 cents to the U.S. Treasury, that means the U.S. taxpayer has indirectly subsidized Israel’s colonies to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, or more.
Sequestration The FY ‘13 “sequestration” of funds for most government agencies and programs resulted in a 7.8 percent reduction in DOD funds for Israel’s missile defense programs, and a 5 percent reduction in all other accounts. The 2013 “Ryan-Murray Bipartisan Budget Act” relaxed the sequestration budget cuts for FY ’14 and FY ’15. But that expires at the end of this September. So, unless Congress acts by Oct. 1, the start of FY ’16 (not a good bet with this incompetent Congress), the sequestration cuts will kick back in.
Components of Israel Aid As with previous Washington Report estimates of U.S. aid to Israel, this update draws largely from CRS’ latest report on “U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel,” which uses available and verifiable numbers, primarily from the appropriations bills. Table 1 on the facing page is from an appendix to that report, plus amounts from the Washington Report’s reporting and research, especially for the column showing interest income to Israel resulting from the early disbursement of aid. OCTOBER 2015
TABLE 2: Foreign Aid and DOD Appropriations Legislation Since FY 2011 FY ’11 Defense Foreign Aid FY ’12 Defense Foreign Aid FY ’13 Defense Foreign Aid FY ’14 Defense Foreign Aid FY ’15 Defense Omnibus
Basic Documents Conference Report H.R. 1473 H.R. 1473 H.R. 3671 H.Rept. 112-331 H.R. 3671 H.R. 933 H.R. 933 H.R. 3547 H.R. 3547 H.R. 83 H.R. 83
Public Law P.L. 112-10 P.L. 112-10 P.L. 112-74 P.L. 112-74 P.L. 113-6 P.L. 113-6 P.L. 113-76 P.L. 113-76 P.L. 113-235 P.L. 113-235
Notes: H.R.= House Resolution; S = Senate Bill; H.Rept. = House Report; the Public Law is the final, binding version, as signed by the president. In FY ’11 and ’13 both defense and foreign aid were included in the continuing resolutions, H.R. 1473 and H.R. 933. In FY ’12, ’14 and ’15, both defense and foreign aid were included in the omnibus bills, H.R. 3671, H.R. 3547 and H.R. 83.
Not counting the huge sums spent in Iraq—nor for the U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan and the current operations in Iraq and Syria to combat ISIS—Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. aid since World War II. The $3.7 billion or so that Israel receives each year from the U.S. amounts to about $450 per Israeli, including its non-Jewish citizens. The largest amounts have been for military grants (FMF) and economic grants (Economic Support Funds, ESF). In August 2007 the U.S. and Israel agreed on a new, 10-year, $30 billion aid plan, beginning in FY ’09 and calling for no ESF and incremental annual increases in FMF, reaching $3.1 billion by FY ’13 and remaining at that level through FY ’18. There are several reports of U.S.-Israeli discussions about a new, multi-year agreement continuing military aid beyond 2018. Reports of the amount being discussed range between $3.5 billion and $4.5 billion per year. Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. FMF funds. The president’s FY ’16 request for Israel of $3.1 billion would amount to about 53 percent of total FMF funding worldwide, and would represent about 20 percent of Israel’s overall defense budget. A major part of U.S. support for Israel’s defense program is the deployment to Israel in 2008 of the X-Band radar system to detect incoming missiles. Since this system is U.S.-owned and operated (meaning the constant presence on Israeli soil of U.S. troops and defense contractors), its conTHE WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
siderable costs are not reflected in these numbers. Another element of U.S. support for Israel’s defense program is the emergency U.S. stockpile in Israel. Since the 1980s the U.S. has stored military equipment and munitions in Israel for possible use by the U.S. and, with Washington’s permission, by Israel. The stockpile consists of missiles, armored vehicles and artillery ammunition. Officially the equipment belongs to the U.S. military, so its value is also not included in Table 1. During Israel’s 2006 war against Hezbollah the U.S. gave Israel access to the stockpile, and during Israel’s 2014 assault against Gaza the Defense Department allowed Israel to withdraw 120 mm tank rounds and 40 mm illumination rounds. The authorized value of material stored in Israel started at $100 million, but has been raised in increments and now stands at $1.8 billion. Most recently the 2014 “U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Act” authorized an additional $200 million for each of FY ’14 and ’15. “Migration and refugee assistance” is another part of U.S. aid to Israel. This originally was intended to help Israel absorb Jewish refugees from the Soviet Union, but was expanded in 1985 to include “refugees resettling in Israel.” However, since Israel doesn’t differentiate between refugees and other immigrants, this money subsidizes all immigrants to Israel. Israel also regularly receives grants from the “American Schools and Hospitals 29