Israel foreign aid

[Autocratic]

[ QUOTE ]
>>Yeah, none of that changes the fact that Israel is doing fine on its own.<<

True. But what message would it send if we cut off that aid right now, in terms of timing?

Look at the Gaza pullout - was that olive branch reciprocated by the palestinians? No. Instead, there are massive celebrations, and Hamas is claiming the pullout as an israeli 'retreat' because of their terror campaign, and so Hamas is now encouraged, and announces plans to extend the terror campaign until israel is destroyed.

Israel was doing a lot better, terrorwise, when they rammed those hellfire missles right up the yangs of those Hamas leaders. When it comes to fighting terror, *that* is the only policy that works.

[/ QUOTE ]

Again, none of this is even related. Israeli affairs are Israeli affairs - try to avoid pulling this thread into another debate on Israel, heh.

The point isn't whether taking it away now or not is a good idea. Israel is always, and will always be, fighting terror. It is important to realize that they simply don't need our money, one way or the other. We made them what they are, and we aren't obligated to keep feeding them by hand.

[zipo]

>> It is important to realize that they simply don't need our money, one way or the other. We made them what they are, and we aren't obligated to keep feeding them by hand. <<

Well, this makes some sense to me. But don't forget the israelis are the dog we may need to sic on some of the surrounding states when they get out of line (for example, Iran). But your point is well taken - Israel probably would do that with or without aid.

[Autocratic]

[ QUOTE ]
>> It is important to realize that they simply don't need our money, one way or the other. We made them what they are, and we aren't obligated to keep feeding them by hand. <<

Well, this makes some sense to me. But don't forget the israelis are the dog we may need to sic on some of the surrounding states when they get out of line (for example, Iran). But your point is well taken - Israel probably would do that with or without aid.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not sure using Israel is a smart way to approach Iran. We have a lot of people in Iran willing to support us (and I know this from personal experience). Bringing Israel in may well turn those people off to any future American effort to take out the Iranian government.

[zipo]

>> Bringing Israel in may well turn those people off to any future American effort to take out the Iranian government. <<

Many of the younger generation in Iran is potentially pro-western, and it would be great if we could avoid alienatiing them.

However, the power structure in Iran (the Theocracy and intelligence services that support them) is deeply evil - no other way to put it, really. And they are bent on developing nuclear weapons and deploying them using terrorists.

Using Israel to annihilate Iran's nuclear, military, and industrial capability is a bad choice. Letting Iran develop nuclear weapons is very likely a worse choice by far.

[Autocratic]

[ QUOTE ]
>> Bringing Israel in may well turn those people off to any future American effort to take out the Iranian government. <<

Many of the younger generation in Iran is potentially pro-western, and it would be great if we could avoid alienatiing them.

However, the power structure in Iran (the Theocracy and intelligence services that support them) is deeply evil - no other way to put it, really. And they are bent on developing nuclear weapons and deploying them using terrorists.

Using Israel to annihilate Iran's nuclear, military, and industrial capability is a bad choice. Letting Iran develop nuclear weapons is very likely a worse choice by far.

[/ QUOTE ]

But the other option would be doing it ourselves, which is fairly plausible. I mean, aside from letting Europe deal with it, in which case we might as well hand them warheads right now.

[chabibi]

i think there is a misconception about what kind of American aid Israel receives. most of the money handed by the US to Israel is not in actual currency, but is in the form of credits to be used by the Israeli government to buy WEAPONS from American weapons manufacturers. as far as aid to Israel’s economy goes. The us has actually been decreasing its economic aid while increasing military aid. During peace time Israel’s wars help ensure that private American weapons manufacturers remain operating near full capacity. Now, i understand that the US supplies aid out of its own good will and that Israel is not doing anyone any favors by accepting it. the US supports Israel morally and supports its right to exist

[nicky g]

[ QUOTE ]
Didn't you make a similar thread a couple months back...?

[/ QUOTE ]

He did, and I seem to remeber that many of the points were quickly shown to be wrong; for example, Egypt alone has a GDP more than twice the size of Israel's, so it's fairly likely Israel does not have a larger GDP than its neighbours combined.

I also don't really understand the logic. Should we start sending aid to Japan because so much of my electronic goods were built there? To France because it has a large airforce? It's not like he usually needs an excuse for the likes of this.

[adios]

[ QUOTE ]
for example, Egypt alone has a GDP more than twice the size of Israel's, so it's fairly likely Israel does not have a larger GDP than its neighbours combined.

[/ QUOTE ]

per capita GDP? I'll bet Israel's is higher FWIW.

[adios]

At least those are the numbers that I dug up. Of course a country where the population is much greater will often have a higher GDP in total but that doesn't tell the whole story.

[nicky g]

Of course. But saying a small country like Israel's GDP is bigger than the combined GDP of all the (larger) countries around it is a much, much bigger claim than saying its per capita GDP is, even if the latter is still impressive. You'd think he could at least get it right the second time around.