THE ANDERSON FILES U.S. AID TO SUPPRESS PALESTINIANS AND DEMOCRACY

BY DAVE ANDERSON

Something unprecedented is happening in U.S.-Israeli relations.

There has been a mainstream cliché that Israel is “the only democracy in the Middle East.” It hasn’t mattered much that most Palestinians — including Palestinian Israelis — don’t agree.

But Israel has elected its most farright government to-date, which now is pushing the country toward an autocracy like Hungary. Hundreds of thousands of politically diverse Israelis have protested for many months in intense and gigantic street protests.

Meanwhile, the Israeli government has stepped up repression of Palestinians. The minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has said

Gaza should be “ours” and that “the Palestinians can go to … Saudi Arabia or other places, like Iraq or Iran.”

This has provoked rumblings in the American political establishment. The U.S. shovels millions to Israel every year. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wants to “rethink American aid” to Israel because “aid to another rich country squanders scarce resources and creates an unhealthy relationship damaging to both sides.”

He notes: “Today, Israel has legitimate security concerns but is not in peril of being invaded by the armies of its neighbors, and it is richer per capita than Japan and some European countries. One sign of changed times: Almost a quarter of Israel’s arms exports last year went to Arab states.”

Kristof quotes three former U.S. officials, including two former ambassadors to Israel — Martin Indyk and Daniel Kurtzer — who said the U.S. should at least discuss ending military aid.

Aid to Israel is almost entirely military assistance, which can be used only to buy American weapons. Israel also has its own little military industrial complex, which is undercut. Reuters reported in June:

“Israel exported a record $12.556 billion in defense products last year, with new Arab partners under the U.S.sponsored 2020 Abraham Accords accounting for almost a quarter of the