When the United States gives military aid to Israel it is not always in the form of a blank check, but quite often, the aid is in the form of US goods. This permits the United States to boost its industries while aiding an ally nation. That is to say that while America does assist Israel, Jerusalem is compelled to purchase US made goods in many cases, at times leading to the closure of businesses here in Israel.
One victim of such aid is the Brill factory, which is closing its doors following a decision from Defense Minister Ehud Barak to purchase army boots from the USA, as stipulated in the aid agreements between the two countries.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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8 Responses
Virtually all American foreign aid is in the form of “credits” to buy American goods. The US doesn’t give blank checks to anyone. What do you think the US government is? A tsadakah fund.
The idea to encourage foreign countries to buy overpriced American goods rather than developing their own industries. If done in the private sector it is called “dumping” but its legal when done by the government. Remember how the US use “aid” to keep Israel from entering the fighter plane industry.
If Ron Paul were elected President AND the Congress went along with it, cutting off aid to Israel would probably result in further economic development for Israel – with Israeli companies developing the skills to build needed products which could be exported (in competition with American companies)
The Israeli government couldn’t survive 1 day without support from my Tax dollars…..
So in my eyes they are the same parasites as the chareidim are constantly being accused of being, by the secular Israelis….
The second part of the headline is completely unpatriotic.
Chaval that’s overdoing Buy American isn’t it?
Just one more evil, imbecilic move on the part of Barak.
Yes, it IS true that Israel IS forced to spend a very large percentage of the financial aid from the U.S. IN the U.S. — BUT if Barak had any saichel or any shred of menschlichkeit (and that’s a huge IF) he could certainly find American products to buy without putting Jewish companies in Eretz Yisrael out of business and the employess out of work!!!
But of course it doesn’t affect the always pompous,
אף למעלה Barak, so he doesn’t care and wont lose one moment of sleep over this. After all, would a man who evicts Jewish women and children from their homes in the middle of a cold night and then bulldozes those homes (to please obama) care about about putting some hard working Jews on the unemployment line??? What a disgrace!!!
I’ve worn the israeli boots and the new american ones and I’m telling you that in terms of comfort the american ones are so much better. Its not necessarily a solely economic decision.
I don’t know whether or not Israel could survive without foreign aid – didn’t they survive until the 1979 without it (i won’t include the airlift as foreign aid as it was a one-time emergency deal). With that said, I’ve also thought that it’s hypocritical to complain about the stipends to Yeshivas when Israel has constantly required financial assistance from outside sources both before there was a state and afterwards.
Glad to see someone else mention Ron Paul here. At the moment I still lean towards Gingrich and I have concerns about how far Paul goes in his positions, but at the heart of the matter I think he is right (not just about foreign aid, but also about foreign wars, nation building, the fed, the income tax, spending, the war on drugs, etc.).
And yet, there is Iran…
mogold…
1) The Israeli government could survive very well without U.S. aid, they just don’t have the saichel and pride to try it.
Rav Kahane ztzvk”l always said that instead of taking handouts from the U.S., Israel should start CHARGING the U.S. for all it does for it.
Two examples (among many)…
For example, did you know that the F-16 fighter jet, the backbone of the U.S. Air Force, has OVER ONE HUNDRED IMPROVEMENTS that were made to it by the IAF and are now standard on all American F-16s?!?
Israel could also start CHARGING the U.S. for use of it’s port facilities when the U.S. Navy is always visiting that part of the world due to it’s involvement with Iraq and other Middle eastern countries.
2) How dare you complain about the U.S. aid going to Israel coming out of “your’ pocket?!?! I don’t hear you complaining about the aid to the PLO or to Egypt or to many other ENEMIES of JEWS, but money to Israel you complain about?!? And – even IF YOU WERE right (which you are not) about Israel needing American aid to survive, don’t you think it needs to survive?!? If not, where would you go on vacation, how would you visit the Kosel and Kever Rachel, where would your daughter go to seminary, your son to yeshiva?!? You don’t seriously think the yishmaeli savages would allow that if there was no Israel, do you?!?
And most importantly, where would you run to, when it inevitably does “hit the fan” here in the ‘medina shel chesed’?!?