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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 tech
by 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 agoExactly. 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.