I must be really bad at phrasing thoughts. Isreal was "harming" itself and its taxpayers (normal people like me), same way NY taxpayers would undoubtedly IMO be

I must be really bad at phrasing thoughts. Isreal was "harming" itself and its taxpayers (normal people like me), same way NY taxpayers would undoubtedly IMO be "harmed" (in the sense of their hard-won money being ill-invested). Is it extortion? I guess not literally, only in spirit. It is just bad investment with negative long-term ROI. NY could have supported thousands of SMBs instead, and that builds more resilient, diverse and sustainable economy long-term.