CRITICS OF US MILITARY AID TO ISRAEL IGNORE FACTS IN FAVOR OF IDEOLOGY

One of America’s best investments: US military aid to Israel

From the Cold War to the present, U.S. presidents have understood that support for Israel is not charity but a sound investment in national security. 

 

By Micha Danzig

 

JNS

Apr 10, 2025

 

 

 

Far-left Sen. Bernie Sanders has consistently campaigned and voted against American arms sales to Israel. 

 

In recent years, growing voices on the far left and extremist right of American politics, as well as through social media, have questioned the United States’s continued military alliance with and support for Israel.

Among the most prominent of these voices is longtime Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who introduced multiple “resolutions of disapproval” in the Senate last week to challenge American arms sales to Israel. (They were all, thankfully and overwhelmingly, voted down.) While people like Sanders argue that American aid enables the conflict and that Israel’s action to defend itself from attacks by Iran’s Islamist supremacist axis somehow disqualifies it from receiving U.S. military equipment, they overlook the profound strategic, technological and humanitarian benefits the United States receives from its alliance with Israel.

These anti-Israel activists, including people like former Missouri Rep. Cori Bush, other “Squad” members in the U.S. House of Representatives and media figures like Mehdi Hasan, often single out the Jewish state’s receipt of U.S. military aid (and, hyperbolically, try to tie it to all sorts of unresolved problems in the United States) while ignoring the broader context of global U.S. foreign aid. They betray a bias that at best borders on antisemitism. In truth, military support for Israel remains one of the most cost-effective and mutually beneficial investments the United States has made in modern history.

It is important to recognize the inconsistency in how critics apply their criticism to all things “Israel,” including with respect to its receipt of military assistance. U.S. military aid to Israel represents a mere .045% of the overall federal budget. It also comes effectively in the form of a “voucher” that Israel must spend on American-made products by U.S. manufacturers. Yet Israel-haters frequently blame this tiny fraction of federal spending for U.S. domestic issues like homelessness, crime and underfunded public services—claims that lack both fiscal logic and good faith. When Bush blamed U.S. aid to Israel for poverty and homelessness in St. Louis or when activists expressly linked the recent Los Angeles wildfires to the same spending, they engaged in classic antisemitic scapegoating, rather than constructive critique.

Such selective criticism becomes even more suspect when one considers that for years the United States has given more than $55 billion annually in direct foreign aid to countries around the world, many of which offer little or no tangible return on that investment. Furthermore, in the past two decades, the United States has effectively subsidized the budgets of all other NATO countries by spending around 3.5% of its gross domestic product on defense, while most other member nations have contributed barely 2%. This imbalance has cost the United States more than $5 trillion, all while Israel consistently spends more than 5% of its GDP on its own defense. Yet rarely is this massive European subsidy the subject of impassioned Senate speeches or viral social media outrage, and certainly none of those who focus such unique attention and/or opprobrium on Israel have ever blamed countries like France or Denmark for homelessness in any American cities or for underfunded fire department budgets.

Unlike many U.S. foreign aid recipients, Israel offers the United States far more than gratitude. It serves as a vital strategic partner in the Middle East—a region where the United States has few reliable allies. Ports like Haifa and Ashdod serve as secure and hospitable docking locations for the U.S. Navy and house emergency military stockpiles for rapid deployment. In contrast to the costly and chaotic redeployments in the Persian Gulf, Israel offers stability, dependability and shared interests.

From the Cold War to the present day, U.S. presidents have understood that support for Israel is not charity, but a sound investment in national security. During the Cold War, Israel served as a bulwark against Soviet influence in the Middle East. Today, it stands as a front line of defense against radical Islamist forces and Iran’s hegemonic ambitions. Israel independently destroyed Syria’s nuclear reactor in 2007 just before it went operational, preventing Syria under the butcher Bashar Assad from becoming a nuclear power and averting a potential regional catastrophe. These actions save the United States from having to intervene militarily itself, saving both money and American lives.

The U.S.-Israel partnership extends far beyond military operations. Jerusalem shares critical intelligence with Washington on terrorism, cyber threats and nuclear proliferation. Moreover, Israeli expertise in counterterrorism, which has been honed through decades of necessity, has helped shape American homeland security strategies. Joint efforts, like the development of the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow missile defense systems, have enhanced both nations’ defensive capabilities. These systems not only defend Israel but also materially inform and improve America’s missile defense infrastructure.

Israel’s contributions to military technology are nothing short of revolutionary. Its firms develop high-tech protective gear, drones, unmanned vehicles and bomb-detection systems that directly benefit U.S. soldiers. These innovations save lives and keep the U.S. military at the forefront of defense technology. The same cannot be said of aid to many other nations, including Ukraine, where the return on investment in terms of security and technological innovation is limited.

Israel is not just a military partner; it is a global leader in technology and innovation dubbed the “Startup Nation.” Dozens of top U.S. companies have established research-and-development centers in the Jewish state to harness its scientific and engineering talent. Intel’s most advanced microprocessors, for instance, were designed in Israel. Technologies fundamental to online security, instant messaging and digital payments, such as those used by PayPal, trace their origins to Israeli innovation.

And indeed, the United States benefits directly. Cooperation between American and Israeli tech sectors have been a critical factor in the success of the U.S. information economy. Unlike other aid recipients, Israel’s innovation ecosystem directly supports the American private sector, creating jobs and economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic.

Beyond military and tech benefits, Israel provides critical solutions to pressing global problems—particularly in water conservation, agriculture and renewable energy. Israel recycles nearly 90% of its wastewater, the highest rate in the world, and pioneered technologies like drip irrigation and reverse osmosis desalination. These are not theoretical innovations—they are already in use in the United States.

Israeli technology powers solar energy plants in California and has been instrumental in building desalination plants to help mitigate the state’s droughts. Given that California provides nearly half of the United States’ fruits, vegetables and nuts, Israeli innovation is playing a key role in sustaining the American food supply. In a time of increasing concern over climate resilience and sustainability, this kind of international partnership is indispensable.

As they generally do with all their attacks on Israel, critics of U.S. military aid to Israel ignore facts in favor of ideology. They overlook the reciprocal relationship between the United States and Israel—one where both nations share intelligence, technology, defense strategies and economic growth. They fixate on a truly minuscule portion of the federal budget while ignoring far costlier programs. In doing so, they try to undermine one of the most productive alliances in modern history.

Whether they realize it or not, those calling for the United States to abandon or weaken the U.S.-Israel alliance are not looking out for America’s interests. To the contrary, if their misguided, neo-Marxist, fascist and/or hate-driven goal to weaken Israel’s ability to defend itself is met, America’s interests would be severely harmed as totalitarian regimes around the world, and particularly in the Islamist supremacist “axis of resistance,” would be celebrating and emboldened.