$2.775 Billion in US Aid Supports Israeli Nuclear Weapons Program

By Grant F. Smith
Online Journal Guest Writer

June 29, 2009 "Online Journal" — President Barak Obama’s fiscal year 2010 budget request for $2.775 billion in military aid to Israel is proceeding smoothly through the Congress.

On June 17, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs held a “mark-up” session on the budget. The subcommittee came under pressure from an antiwar group that sought to suspend or condition foreign aid over Israel’s use of US weapons which left 3000 Palestinians dead during the Bush administration. The subcommittee held its session in a tiny Capitol room denying activists and members of the press access. The budget quickly passed and is now before the full House Appropriations Committee.

Israel enjoys “unusually wide latitude in spending the [military assistance] funds,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

Unlike other recipients that must go through the Pentagon, Israel deals directly with US military contractors for almost all of its purchases. This gives the US based Israel lobby, particularly the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), an influence multiplier on Capitol Hill. Large contractors proactively segment military contracts across key congressional districts to make them harder to oppose. As contactors and local business interests fight for Israel’s favor, AIPAC can turn away from shepherding the massive aid package to dedicate considerable resources toward Iran sanctions.

Representative Mark Steven Kirk (R-Illinois) sponsored an amendment to the foreign operations bill that would prevent the Export-Import Bank of the United States from providing loan guarantees to companies selling refined petroleum to Iran. According to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Kirk is the top 2008 recipient of Israel political action committee (PAC) contributions (PDF). Kirk received $91,200 in the 2008 election cycle and more than $221,000 over his career.

Kirk’s AIPAC sponsored sanctions legislation passed the House Appropriations Committee on June 23. While tactically positioned as a rebuke to the crackdown on Iranian election protesters, the measure is only the most recent of strategic long-term AIPAC sponsored sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program.

Israel contends Iran is secretly developing nuclear weapons under the auspices of a civilian program, though no hard evidence has emerged. However, an illicit nuclear arsenal in the region has been positively identified.

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Editorial / Sarkozy is right – Lieberman must go
 

 By Editorial: Haaretz
  
French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s request of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he replace Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman exposes a sad truth: At present Israel does not have a functioning foreign minister. The international community refuses to speak to a politician who is considered racist in the wake of the campaign conducted by his party, Yisrael Beiteinu, against Arab citizens during the recent Knesset election campaign. There is not and cannot be any other way to interpret Sarkozy’s comparison between Lieberman and far-right French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen.

The angry reactions emerging from the Foreign Ministry after Sarkozy’s comment was publicized on Israel’s Channel 2 on Monday, to the effect that he had "interfered in Israel’s internal affairs," are not relevant.

France did not impose an official boycott on Lieberman, nor did Sarkozy condemn him publicly – he only conveyed a message to Netanyahu in private. It is therefore difficult to maintain that Sarkozy behaved in an undiplomatic manner.

It is more important to focus on the main thing, which is the ongoing damage to Israel’s diplomatic interests resulting from Lieberman’s tenure in the Foreign Ministry. Sarkozy was not the first to express dissatisfaction with the fact that the leader of Yisrael Beiteinu was elevated to the top of Israel’s diplomatic pyramid.

The Arab countries refuse to speak to Lieberman because of his threats and the rude things he said in the past about Egypt and its president.

When Lieberman was recently invited to Washington, the U.S. administration expressed its dissatisfaction with him by demonstrating a preferential attitude toward Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who was invited to meet with President Barack Obama. Lieberman’s predecessors in the Foreign Ministry, Tzipi Livni (Kadima) and Silvan Shalom (Likud), were also invited to such meetings with the president during their visits to Washington. He was not.

Lieberman’s bizarre attempt to offer an alternative diplomatic policy, whose main feature is a strengthening of strategic cooperation with Russia as a counterweight to the Obama administration, collapsed embarrassingly right from the start. Before inviting Lieberman to Moscow, the Russians sent their foreign minister to a meeting with Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshal.

In light of Israel’s complex international situation on the eve of the renewal of negotiations with the Palestinians and perhaps with Syria too, it needs all the support it can enlist from the international community. It is imperative to replace Lieberman with another foreign minister, who will benefit from an open door in the world’s capitals. 
  

Read More »Editorial sarkozy is right lieberman must go