4 ms·

$38 billion. woah. if US continues to give Israel unconditional aid then it will start to look like a vassal state https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassal_state h

• alisonkisk 5y ago
  The US needs an ally in the Middle East that is more reliable than any of the Arab nations are. Better than being even more beholden to Saudi Arabia. US interests also benefit quite a lot from Israeli industry, from Intel to Cellebrite
• iskander 5y ago
  It's primarily a subsidy for American weapons manufacturers (from whom the Israelis have to make purchases), mixed with a hefty R&D budget for new military technology like Iron Dome.
  • bombcar 5y ago
    Exactly. And it keeps Israel from buying similar equipment from Russia or China (and helping support those developers).
  • vanusa 5y ago
    "Primarily" is more than a bit of stretch, here. All observation of U.S.-Israel relations since 1967 indicate that it's driven by a very strong ideological (and perceived electoral) component. In fact it's hard to think of a single case of a ("friendly") country for which the degree of U.S. support is less ideological. Pork barreling plays a role for sure as well, but it's definitely second fiddle.