Relevant article selected from the GR archive, first published on GR in May 2015.
Israel has been preparing for war with Western support since 1948 and it will most likely continue well into 2028. Israel and its American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobby have political influence over the U.S. congress and the Obama administration. Will Israel get the amount they are asking for? Most likely, yes. According to Defense News, a military news organization based in Virginia:
Israel is seeking a hefty surge in annual security assistance from Washington and has begun preliminary talks with the US administration on a long-term package that would provide up to $45 billion in grant aid through 2028. In recent months, working-level bilateral groups have begun to assess Israel’s projected security needs in the context of a new 10-year foreign military financing (FMF) deal that will kick in once the current agreement expires in 2017
Howard Kohr, the CEO of AIPAC says that Israel will need $160 billion to defend itself for the next 10 years. Mr. Kohr testified this past April before the House Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations and said “Israel has always fought its own battles and has never asked American troops to fight on its behalf. Instead, it has requested US assistance to supplement the tremendous resources Israel already invests in its defense budget.”
Kohr also said that “The military hardware, including American-built advanced fighter aircraft, vertical takeoff aircraft, naval vessels and armored troop carriers, that Israel must acquire over the next decade to maintain its [legislatively mandated qualitative military edge] is far more sophisticated and expensive than previous Israeli purchases from the United States.”
According to Kohr, Israel wants to build a “$360 million barrier along Israel’s southern border with Egypt and a similar, more modern one at its northern border with Syria.”
Here is where Washington, U.S. weapons manufacturers and Israel share a common interest. U.S. weapons manufacturers produce weapons that the Israeli’s will use on their perceived enemies including Hezbollah, Syria, the Palestinians and most likely Iran in the not-so distant future. Israel wants to dominate the Middle East with Washington’s military aid. Many in Washington’s circle including politicians are heavily invested in the Arms Industry (Lockheed Martin, Boeing, BAE Systems, Raytheon, General Dynamics and others) it’s a win-win situation. Kohr said that “26 percent” of every dollar invested for Israel’s defense is actually used to pay for “US-made weapons” that support the US economy and its workers who are employed in the Arms industry.
Kohr stated that
“AIPAC strongly believes that the broader US foreign aid budget, which includes security assistance to Israel — nearly 75 percent of which comes right back to the United States through the purchase of US-made aircraft and other equipment — is an essential component of America’s national security strategy.”
For Washington and their corporate buddies who are raking in war profits, no one would disagree with that statement.
Washington’s strategy is to prepare Israel for a long war with its Arab neighbors because ISIS, the Syrian rebels and every other terrorist organization in the region will most likely close in on Damascus in the near future. Washington has sent weapons directly or indirectly to the Syrian rebels (or various terrorist groups) to fight the Assad government from the start of the civil war.
Both Hezbollah and the Syrian government are on alert and war in the Gaza strip could restart at a moment’s notice. And don’t forget, Israel’s government is run by an extremist (Natanyahu) who is awaiting the outcome of the Iranian nuclear deal (if passed), so either way, a war involving Israel at some point in time is certain. War profits for the Arms Industry is guaranteed and endless war in the Middle East continues at least for another decade.
