Israeli Regime’s Budget Crisis

US-israelKABUL: (Middle East Press) America provides Israeli regime 8.5 million dollars per day.  According to the Congressional Research Service’s report, entitled “U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel” by Jeremy M. Sharp, cited in “If Americans Knew” website”, Obama administration gave $3.1 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) for Israel for the Fiscal Year 2014.  In addition, the U.S contributed $504 million to the joint US-Israel Missile Defense Program during FY 2014.  If we include that number, American taxpayers give Israel $9.9 million per day.”

According to this report, “over the last 20 years, the US has been slowly phasing out economic aid to Israel and gradually replacing it with increased military aid.  In 2007, the Bush administration and the Israeli government agreed to a 10-year, $30 billion military aid package FY 2009 to FY 2018.  In 2012, US began giving Israel $3.1 billion a year (or an average of $8.5 million a day) and promised to provide that amount every year through FY 2018”.

John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt report that Israeli regime has been the largest annual recipient of direct U.S. economic and military assistance since 1976.  These aids date back to very emergence of occupier regime.  It also has been the largest total recipient since World War ll.  As cited in “If Americans Knew” website, according to Mearsheimer Walt report, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, “Since the October War in 1973, Washington has provided Israel with a level of support dwarfing the amounts provided to any other state.  Total direct US aid to Israel amounts to well over $140 billion in 2003 dollars.  Israel receives about $3 billion in direct foreign assistance each year, which is roughly one-fifth of America’s entire foreign aid budget.  In per capita terms, the United States gives each Israeli a direct subsidy worth about $500 per year.”

Despite the fact that Israel is a wealthy industrial state and receives large amounts of economic and military assistance from America, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a hike in the military budget that has set the scene for a bruising political battle.  The defense ministry is seeking nearly $20 billion in the 2015 budget, an increase of $3 billion over 2014.  This calls for hike in military budget esteems its recent onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip.  Indeed, they are trying to settles the bills from their war.

Israeli regime’s Treasury wrote in its Aug. 31, “As a result of Operation Protective Edge, the Ministry of Defense bore a significant surge in war costs that were unexpected at the time the 2013-2014 budgets was built.”

Israel started pounding the Gaza Strip in early July in which almost 2,140 Palestinians, mostly civilians, including women, children and elderly people, were killed.  Around 11,000 others were injured.

Gaza war had also imposed heavy losses upon Tel Aviv; 72 Israelis were killed in the conflict, but the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas says the number is much higher.  According to Moshe Yaalon, the Israeli minister of military affairs, the expenditure of the war on Gaza was “more than nine billion shekels (US $2.5 billion”.

“Fifty days of combat is an expensive matter,” Finance Minister Yair Lapid said.  “The Israel Defense Forces needs to restock and we will not spare one shekel, when it comes to the security of the people of Israel”.  That estimate, according to a source, includes operations and maintenance costs, replenishment procurement and expenses associated with more than 80,000 reservists called up for duty.  “Our estimated price of Protective Edge is comprehensive but conservative,” he said.  “Actual costs over time could be significantly more.”

It is noteworthy that America has developed mobile air defense system for Zionist regime to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells.  However, recent Gaza war questioned its effectiveness, because it could not intercept many low accuracy and unstable trajectory rockets fired by Hamas.  Therefore, Zionist asked for 225 million dollars from America in the 22nd day of the war from America.

On the one hand, Israeli ministry of military affairs should pay to more than 80,000 reservists called up for duty for more than 50 days; on the other hand, they are afraid of Resistance Axis that defeated them with empty hands.  Due to these challenges, Zionist regime was forced to ask for an increase in military budget.

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