U.S. Military Aid to Israel—Illegal and Immoral
A BRIEF HISTORY
On August 16, 2007, the United
States and Israel signed a
Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) to increase bilateral military aid
to Israel to $30 billion over the next
decade, representing a more than 25%
increase over the previous FY2008
appropriation.1
Even before this increase in military
aid, Israel was already the largest
recipient of U.S. assistance. According
to Congressional Research Service,
since 1949, the United States has
provided Israel with more than $53
billion of military aid—a little more than
half of total aid to Israel, which stood at
more than $101 billion as of 2007.2
Over the past decade, U.S. military aid
to Israel increased yearly while
economic aid was phased out,
implementing a ten-year understanding
negotiated between Congress and the
government of former Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 1998.3
In FY2008—the last year of this tenyear
understanding—the United States
provided Israel with an estimated $2.38
billion in military aid while traditional
economic aid—known as Economic
Support Funds in budgetary language
—was reduced to zero (although the
United States continued to provide an
estimated $39.7 million to Israel under
a different budget category known as
Migration and Refugee Assistance).4
In his budget request to Congress for
FY2009—the first budget year of the
new understanding signed in 2007—
President George W. Bush requested
$2.55 billion in Foreign Military
Financing (FMF) for Israel, a 9%
increase over actual military aid given
to Israel in FY2007.5 (FMF is the
primary budgetary vehicle through
which the United States provides
military aid.) Under the terms of the
new understanding, annual military aid
appropriations to Israel are scheduled
to rise to $3.1 billion by FY2018.6
VIOLATIONS OF U.S. LAWS
All U.S. aid programs, whether
military or economic, have built-in
mechanisms to prevent that aid from
being used by countries to commit
human rights abuses. According to
U.S. law, countries that commit human
rights abuses with U.S. aid are to be
sanctioned and aid is to be cut off.
The Arms Export Control Act (P.L. 80-
829) stipulates that countries
purchasing or receiving U.S. weapons
cannot use them against civilians and
must restrict their usage to “internal
security” and “legitimate self-defense.”
The US Campaign and many other
organizations have documented
Israel's repeated uses of U.S. weapons
to commit human rights violations
against civilians in the Occupied
Palestinian Territories and in Lebanon.
Indeed, Israel could not maintain its
illegal 40-year military occupation and
siege of the Palestinian West Bank,
East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip
without these weapons.
According to the Foreign Assistance
Act of 1961 (P.L. 87-195), “No
assistance may be provided under this
part [of the law] to the government of
any country which engages in a
consistent pattern of gross violations of
internationally recognized human
rights.” As documented not only by
Palestinian, Israeli, and international
human rights groups, but by the U.S.
government as well, Israel has an
atrocious human rights record and
therefore should be ineligible for any
form of U.S. aid.


TAKE ACTION
ENDNOTES
1 “Signing of Memorandum of Understanding
between Israel and the United States,” August
16, 2007. Available at:
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/M
FA+Spokesman/2007/Signing%20of%20Memora
ndum%20of%20Understanding%20between%20
Israel%20and%20the%20United%20States%201
6-Aug-2007.
2 Jeremy M. Sharp, Specialist in Middle East
Affairs, Congressional Research Service Report,
“U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel,” updated January 2,
2008, Table 5. Recent U.S. Aid to Israel, p. 18.
Available at:
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33222_200801
02.pdf.
3 Serge Schmemann, “Israelis to Discuss Phasing
Out 1.2 Billion U.S. Economic Aid,” New York
Times, January 27, 1998. Available at:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9
E07E6D7113BF934A15752C0A96E958260&sec
=&spon=&pagewanted=all.
4 “Summary and Highlights: International Affairs
Function 150, Fiscal Year 2009 Budget
Request,” U.S. Department of State. Available at:
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/100
014.pdf
5 Ibid.
6 Sharp, op. cit., p. 2.
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation | PO Box 21539 | Washington, DC 20009
202-332-0994 | www.endtheoccupation.org | us_campaign@endtheoccupation.org
Can You Think of a Better Way to Spend $30 Billion over the Next Decade?


* Send a postcard, sign a petition, or
write a letter to your Members of
Congress and the President opposing
military aid to Israel.
* Sign up for an organizing packet to
educate and mobilize people in your
community on this issue.
* Organize a meeting of constituents
with your Members of Congress to
oppose military aid to Israel.
* Put a flash graphic on your blog or
social networking site opposing
military aid to Israel.
* Learn more about U.S. arms laws
and transfers of weapons to Israel at
the websites of the Federation of
American Scientists: www.fas.org and
the World Policy Institute:
www.worldpolicy.org
More information at:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/
article.php?list=type&type=208