An Expensive “Friend”

On June 8th, 1967 the USS Liberty, an intelligence ship on station in the eastern Mediterranean, was viciously strafed and bombed by four Israeli fighter jets, as well as, attacked by torpedo boats. Per our “greatest” ally in the Middle East (or, you would be told our greatest ally in general) the highly distinctive and practically defenseless vessel was “mistakenly” identified as an Egyptian horse-cavalry transport. The ship’s mission was to monitor the communications of Israel’s Arab enemies and their Soviet advisers during the Six-Day War, but not on Israeli communications. It didn’t matter though, after the Jews attacked the ship for two hours, including machine-gunning at close range the lowered lifeboats, 34 Americans were killed and 172 were wounded.

Per Admiral Thomas Moorer, Chief of Naval Operations from 1967 to 1970 and later Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1970 to 1974, in a 2004 Stars and Stripes article, “U.S. military rescue aircraft were recalled—not once, but twice—through direct intervention by the Johnson administration. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara’s cancellation of the Navy’s attempt to rescue the Liberty, which I confirmed from the commanders of the aircraft carriers America and Saratoga, was the most disgraceful act I witnessed in my entire military career…Despite claims by Israeli intelligence that they confused the Liberty with a small Egyptian transport, the Liberty was conspicuously different from any vessel in the Egyptian navy. It was the most sophisticated intelligence ship in the world in 1967. With its massive radio antennae, including a large satellite dish, it looked like a large lobster and was one of the most easily identifiable ships afloat.” Some suspect that the Israelis wanted to sink the ship, kill the entire crew and blame the event on the Egyptians—which would trigger the US to join Israel in the Six-Day War. Sounds like a great friend, right?

Israel, and by extension the Jews, is the type of friend that gives the US almost nothing in return for the amount of blood and treasure that we provide them. They bleed us, both figuratively and literally, dry. The American taxpayer, thanks to Uncle Sam’s extortion, gives Israel about $10.2 million dollars per day. Meanwhile, in Owsley County, Kentucky, 41% of the residents (reminder that they’re citizens of the United States) live below the poverty line and many live without running water or electricity. Kentucky’s per capita income is $23,684; Israel’s is about $33,000. In case you were wondering, Israel’s per capita income is greater than 40 US states.

In John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt’s 2007 book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy they state, “Since the October War in 1973, Washington has provided Israel with a level of support dwarfing the amounts provided to any other state. It has been the largest annual recipient of direct U.S. economic and military assistance since 1976 and the largest total recipient since World War ll. Total direct U.S. 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. This largesse is especially striking when one realizes that Israel is now a wealthy industrial state with a per capita income roughly equal to South Korea or Spain.”

As of this article, the US federal budget deficit is running around 512 billion, total government debt is in the trillions. That’s okay though in Weimerica—our own mystery meat, and astonishingly incompetent, National Security Adviser Susan Rice just recently promised Israel a new military aid agreement that would constitute “the single largest military assistance package—with any country—in American history.” How much, fam? Think somewhere between $37.5 to $40 billion dollars, much of it to “shore up” Israel’s aircraft fleet and missile defense system (which we already heavily subsidize). The Iron Dome system, a missile defense system designed by two Israeli companies, has cumulatively received more than $704 million in US financial support, with an additional $235.3 million appropriated in a 2014 appropriations act. The U.S. has also assisted with the development of Israel’s “David’s Sling” long-range missile defense system, and since 1990, has contributed $2 billion to the Arrow Anti-Missile System, just under half of the program’s total cost.

In 2003, Uncle Sam gave Israel $9 billion in loan guarantees over three years for economic recovery. Israel’s unemployment is roughly that of Michigan’s. Israel’s gross domestic product (GDP) is $296,073 (in millions), which is higher than Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Romania and Finland. When compared to gross state product (GSP) with US states, Israel outcompetes 30 US states. Per the UN Human Development Index, Israel’s labor participation rate, as of 2013, for men was 69%. South Carolina’s is 54%. Sounds like they really need to boost that economy, goyim.

Aside from the financial metrics, Israel has a well-developed economy in other ways. Israeli life expectancy is 81 years, that’s higher than the average life expectancy for every state in the former Confederacy—Florida, surprisingly enough, at the highest at 79 and Mississippi at the lowest at 75. Israel’s murder and rape rate are both lower than the United States (perhaps we should transport our dindu population to Israel). Israel’s poverty rate is considered high at 21%, but that number is high due to the Arabs living in Israel. When they’re unable to drink the water, 23% of the families in Flint, Michigan live below the poverty line.

Regardless, they kvetch for more and more money, while our own country continues to decline. Friend? More like a well-fed tick. What do we get out of providing them with our money and blood? Nothing as far as I can tell. Per (((David Meir-Levi))) we need to support Israel because, “At the most obvious level, Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. The U.S.–Israel “special relationship” grows in part from the resonance of a common Bible and a host of Judeo-Christian features. As “Western” democracies, Israel and the USA have shared strategic interests, shared civic and political values, and the personal, cultural, and political bonds that exist naturally between free peoples.” In other words, muh democracy and feelz.

In fact, the $40 billion dollars (that we don’t actually have) that President High Yeller is going to freely give them isn’t enough. As is typical, they want more for their military to maintain a “qualitative edge.” Last I checked, the IDF wasn’t street clearing with our Devil Dogs in Fallujah. Following the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the Reagan administration dispatched US Marines to help stabilize the country—ultimately, we lost over 200 Marines in the Beirut barracks bombing.

The Opinion Research Corporation in January 2011 interviewed a thousand adult Americans and found that 81% felt we should reduce foreign aid to countries as a way to reduce the federal budget deficit. Our government doesn’t care, it needs to keep feeding the tick.

What do we get? Nothing but empty pockets and blood. Hell of a friend right there.