Israel Wants More from US

The Obama administration and Israel are locked in a curious negotiation over how many billions of dollars the U.S. will send to Tel Aviv, a demonstration of Israel’s political clout, says ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar.

By Paul R. Pillar

With most stalemated international negotiations, the reasons for both the impasse and the continuation of talks are easy to understand. A range of possible agreed outcomes exists, with some more favorable to one party and some more favorable to the other, and with each side naturally trying to get as good a deal as it can. For each party, there is at least some possible agreement that would be better than no agreement at all.

The parties keep bargaining because each would lose something if they failed to reach an agreement. If that were not the case, then one or the other of the parties would have no reason to bargain in the first place and there would be no negotiation at all.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with U.S. President Barack Obama in the White House on Nov. 9, 2015. (Photo credit: Raphael Ahren/Times of Israel)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with U.S. President Barack Obama in the White House on Nov. 9, 2015. (Photo credit: Raphael Ahren/Times of Israel)

It thus is hard to explain, or rather to justify, what is described as a negotiating impasse between the United States and Israel over the size of a new package of U.S. aid to Israel. The situation is reported as if this were one more example of a typical stalemated international negotiation, but it is not.

This is not a situation in which each country would have something to lose if no agreement is reached. Instead it is entirely a one-sided arrangement: a gift of money from the United States to Israel. There is nothing in any such aid package that carries a benefit for the United States and that the United States would not be getting in the absence of an agreement.

It is not as if the absence of an agreement about an aid package would entail some consequence in the Middle East detrimental to U.S. interests as well as Israeli interests, such as giving rise to a destabilizing military threat by some other state in the region against Israel.

This is not the case first of all because of Israel’s overwhelming military superiority in the region, which still would be overwhelming even without any further U.S.-funded enhancements. It also is not the case because even if enhancements were required to maintain the superiority, Israel — which is among the richest 15 percent of countries in the world as measured by GDP per capita — is quite capable of paying for them itself.

A U.S. Subsidy

The U.S. aid is a subsidy for Israeli taxpayers, paid for by American taxpayers. American taxpayers have been very generous in this regard (or made to be so by American politicians), with the annual aid package to Israel exceeding $3 billion in each of the last several years and with total U.S. aid to Israel, even by the most conservative tallies, topping $120 billion. With the Israeli government budget at around $75 billion, the annual gift from American taxpayers is equivalent to about a four percent rebate to Israeli taxpayers.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressing the AIPAC conference in Washington D.C. on March 21, 2016. (Photo credit: AIPAC)

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressing the AIPAC conference in Washington D.C. on March 21, 2016. (Photo credit: AIPAC)

Or one can look at equivalence in terms of the spending end rather than the revenue end. The gifted funds involve that much less money available for programs benefiting Americans and that much more money for the Israeli government to spend on whatever it wants to spend it on.

Shekels, like dollars, being fungible, what the money gets spent on need not have anything to do with the defense or security of Israel. The money that is no longer available for repair of America’s crumbling roads and bridges, for example, can get spent by Israel on other roads and bridges — including the roads in the West Bank that are used only by Israelis and especially settlers and that the Palestinians who live in the West Bank are prohibited from using, or even crossing except on foot.

Of course, we all know what goes through the minds of American politicians when they are dealing with a subject involving Israel and why this question of the aid package is being treated as if it really were like other international negotiations in which each side has something to lose. The feared loss is the domestic political consequence of being targeted as someone whose love for Israel is less fervent than that of a political opponent and of being outspent by, and losing to, that opponent in the next election.

In the case of President Barack Obama, the New York Times article on this subject describes his objective as being “to burnish his legacy” with “the largest package of military aid ever provided by the United States to another nation” and to “cement his claim to have done more than any other president to support Israel’s security.”

Political Consequences

Let us at least be honest about the objectives if those objectives involve individual politicians’ re-election prospects or the legacies of politicians not running for re-election. Such objectives are quite different from the interests of the United States or of American taxpayers. They are even different from the security and well-being of Israel.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaking to the AIPAC conference in Washington D.C. on March 21, 2016. (Photo credit: AIPAC)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaking to the AIPAC conference in Washington D.C. on March 21, 2016. (Photo credit: AIPAC)

A larger aid package for Israel certainly is not in order as “compensation” for concluding the multilateral agreement that limits Iran’s nuclear program. An agreement that has curtailed that program and moved Iran farther away from any prospect of having a nuclear weapon is, as many former senior Israeli national security officials have recognized, an improvement in, rather than a detriment to, the security of Israel.

The Netanyahu government’s actual reasons for not wanting anyone to have any dealings with Iran are not reasons to be encouraged, from the standpoint of either Israeli or U.S. interests. Any “compensation” would only be in the North Korean sense of a regime engaging in troublesome behavior (which in the Netanyahu government’s case has involved its blatant interference in the U.S. political process to try to kill the Iran agreement) and then expecting a payoff in return for not engaging, for a while, in more such behavior.

The only possible justification for increased largesse to Israel at this point would be as preparation for a serious effort in the remaining months of the Obama administration to get the Israeli government to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians involving a genuine two-state solution. To be seen bending over even farther backwards than before as a supporter of Israel could be a necessary part of any such effort, given political realities in both Israel and the United States. But whether the Obama administration will make such an effort remains to be seen.

In the meantime, those members of the U.S. Senate who signed a letter urging the administration to conclude quickly a memorandum of understanding with Israel about a new aid package ought to be explaining to their taxpaying constituents what such aid really means in fiscal terms as described above.

The administration itself might take some advice from Donald Trump — even though Trump himself might not always apply his own advice to dealings with Israel — in a speech on foreign policy that, while studded with inconsistencies and falsehoods, included a pointer from this self-proclaimed expert on deal-making.

“In negotiation you must be willing to walk,” said Trump. “When the other side knows you’re not going to walk, it becomes absolutely impossible to win.”

Walking away from a negotiation can entail substantial risk, in the form of losing benefits that can only be gained from an agreement. Such risks are much more common in international relations than in the business dealings Trump is familiar with, in which there is always some other property owner, or some other hotel or golf course, to which one can turn for an alternative deal. But as far as U.S. gift-giving to Israel is concerned, there is no risk at all to U.S. interests from walking.

The situation at hand is the equivalent of a nephew complaining about the amount of birthday gift money he got from an uncle and wanting uncle to agree to give more. Negotiation is not the appropriate response for uncle. Either walking or saying “take it or leave it” would be more appropriate, as would a stern reminder to the nephew about who in this relationship is the giver and who is the taker.

Paul R. Pillar, in his 28 years at the Central Intelligence Agency, rose to be one of the agency’s top analysts. He is now a visiting professor at Georgetown University for security studies. (This article first appeared as a blog post at The National Interest’s Web site. Reprinted with author’s permission.)

 

32 comments for “Israel Wants More from US

  1. May 7, 2016 at 22:42

    One solution, that would be the best solution, would be for the US and Israel to both be carpet-bombed with thermo-nuclear devices.

  2. desertspeaks
    May 5, 2016 at 23:20

    WHERE is the authority for the US gvt to “steal” from American tax payers and then give that stolen money to a foreign country or foreign entity within the body of the Constitution?? The authority has never and will never exist! This is nothing but a fraud built upon a fraud and theft!

  3. Abe
    May 5, 2016 at 21:00

    On April 21 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Moscow for closed door talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The media reported that the talks were over the situation in Syria, a theme where Moscow has made certain a regular hotline dialogue exists to avoid potential military clashes. It seems, however, that the two discussed quite another issue–potential Russian involvement in developing Israel’s giant offshore Leviathan gas field in the Eastern Mediterranean. Were the two to strike a deal, the geopolitical implications could be enormous for Putin and Russia’s strategic role in the Middle East as well as for the future of the US influence in the region.

    Putin Plays Energy Chess with Netanyahu
    By F. William Engdahl
    http://journal-neo.org/2016/05/04/putin-plays-energy-chess-with-netanyahu/

  4. Wilbur
    May 5, 2016 at 16:10

    The PALESTINIANS are the descendants of HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS.
    HOLOCAUST by ISRAEL.
    The Canaanites/Amorites/Philistines/Midianites/PALESTINIANS were in PALESTINE long before ABRAHAM passed through from Babylon/Ur ……Israel’s “claim” to Palestine is based entirely on War Crimes and GENOCIDE.

    These passages are some examples of the foundation of Israel’s self written “deed” to the land of Palestine.
    Deuteronomy 7:16, 20:16 “And thou shalt consume all the peoples which the Lord thy God shall deliver unto thee; thine eye shall not pity them…thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth.”
    Deuteronomy 15:6 “For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.”
    KILL THE SICK and CRIPPLED
    Numbers c.5 v.2-4
    KILL HOMOSEXUALS
    Leviticus c.20 v.13 well, really the whole chapter
    KILL ALL DISSIDENTS:
    Exodus c.32 v.27
    Numbers c.11 v.1-2
    Numbers c.16 all
    Numbers c.21 v.5-6
    Numbers v.26 v.10
    KILL anyone who engages in “DIVERSITY” or “INTEGRATION”
    Numbers v25 v.4-8
    Deuteronomy c.14 v.2
    DEHUMANIZE and then EXTERMINATE ALL NON-MEMBERS:
    a very brief selection, many more in THEIR book.
    Numbers c.21 v.03 Canaanites
    Numbers c.21 v.24 Amorites
    Numbers c.21 v.33-35 Bashan
    Numbers c.31 all Midianites
    Numbers c.32 v. more Amorites
    Deuteronomy c.2 v.34 People of Heshbon
    Deuteronomy c.3 v.6 really the whole chapter. threescore cities
    Joshua c.12 A list of victims of Israeli GENOCIDE
    OCCUPY YOUR VICTIM’S DWELLINGS/LAND
    Numbers c.21 v.25
    Numbers c.32 v.39
    Numbers c.33 v.53
    (just to name a FEW)
    GENOCIDE CODIFIED IN THEIR RELIGION
    Numbers c.33 v.31-34
    Deuteronomy c.7 v.2
    Deuteronomy c.12 v.28-30
    Deuteronomy c.20 v.11-16
    TERRORISM CODIFIED IN THEIR RELIGION
    Deuteronomy c.2 v.2
    Deuteronomy c.7 v.1
    Jews SELF-anointed “The CHOSEN People of GOD”
    Nazis SELF-anointed “The CHOSEN People of GENETICS”.
    TODAY Israel states that it is creating “A PURE Jewish State”
    YESTERDAY the Nazis were creating “A PURE German State”
    And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword . . . (Joshua 6:21)
    For modern day reinforcement of these “rules” research/google “the KINGS TORAH”

  5. Zachary Smith
    May 5, 2016 at 01:22

    While cruising on a military site I ran into a possible reason the US of A is so willing to throw more taxpayer dollars at the thieving and murderous ****hole which is Israel:

    Israel has ordered 33 F-35Is at a cost of more than $5 billion – paid for by U.S. military aid – and should sign-on for an additional 17 of the planes as part of a new arms package that the country is currently negotiating with the U.S. government. Washington has approved Tel Aviv to acquire up to 75 F-35s.

    As is getting to be fairly well known, the F-35 is – as matters stand now – a total piece of junk. I’d imagine that giving Israel 50 free ones is a Hail Mary prayer that they can fix the thing up enough to make it usable. And why not? It’s only the amount of money I’d pay in taxes if I lived to be a million years old.

    https://warisboring.com/israels-f-35s-will-be-unique-in-more-ways-than-one-c39d244c1851?source=latest———2

  6. Mushroombruise
    May 4, 2016 at 14:54

    Its time to wipe Israel and all her citizens off the map. There has never been a more sick and twisted people to ever exist.I am ready to wage unceasing war against that pathetic criminal state whose existence is derived from being a parasite, Down with Israel and every single Israeli citizen. I know 100 million Americans who would volunteer without pay to destroy the traitor state who did 9/11. Every single Israeli citizen is guilty of of declaring war on the United States, EVERY. -United States Army Infantry

  7. Peter Loeb
    May 3, 2016 at 11:07

    WHAT ABOUT RUSSIA AND THE “SCO” NATIONS?

    Perhaps there are negotiations. Both Israel and the US oppose
    Russia and the eastern nations (Shanghai Cooperative Organization or “SCO”).
    Israel has gone to war in the past against Syria but the US has consistently
    opposed any condemnation of any Israeli aggression. (Both US parties
    have participated in this in various ways.)

    Will Iran leave the NPT? Will it conclude that its compliance to
    recent Iran nuke deal failed to result in any reduction
    of sanctions. (One expects no reduction of sanctions in the future.)

    In Syria Russia has taken sides and supported the current
    Syrian regime. Russia is in touch with Iran about full membership
    in SCO (aka a move away from the west). It seems unlikely
    that Russia will assume any military responsibilities in Iran
    based if nothing else on Iranian history of poor (disastrous)
    relationships with Russia/USSR with which Iran shares a border.
    What the relationship between east and Lebanon might be is unknown
    by this writer.

    No moves are possible unless all parties benefit.

    However it is unlikely that Russia or other SCO parties
    will fail to respond in any way to the increasing belligerence of
    the US and Israel.

    For Israelis as well as Americans, increased belligerence is
    equated with “self defense”.

    Palestine is no longer an issue as it has been defeated. The
    remaining Arab powers have become patrons of the US and
    have signed “peace treaties” with Israel. (The methods
    and fate of Native Americans ending with the massacre
    at “Wounded Knee, December, 1890. There were
    murders, massacres, ” Indian removal”, murder, rape
    by the colonial party.”From sea to shining sea” as
    celebrated in the song”America” sung regularly thousands
    of Americans every year.)

    A more immediate question only lightly touched on is
    the role of US elections. Whatever advantages Israel
    manages with the Obama administration will most clearly
    be built on in following US administrations.

    —-Peter Loeb, Boston, MA, USA

  8. R Davis
    May 3, 2016 at 09:52

    Has it occurred to anyone that Israel & their menstrual cycles mania, are all excuses – deliberately contrived excuses by Israel, the Jewish Banking Cartels & the Establishment Powerbrokers of the U.S.A.
    TO SYPHON OFF MONIES FOR THE COFFERS OF THE U.S.A. FOR THEMSELVES.
    Yes – I am saying that this is pure & blatent theft of GAZILLIONS of TAXPAYER DOLLARS from the coffers of the United States of America.
    A crime comitted over & over again
    A crime inflicted upon the people of the USA over & over again.
    Someone needs to call them out on this lucrative little secapade of theirs
    Someone needs to point the finger & tell this scam for what it is.
    THE SUCKERING OF THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA..

  9. Stefan
    May 2, 2016 at 22:29

    It must suck really bad being a tax payer in America.

  10. Dr. Ibrahim Soudy
    May 2, 2016 at 20:09

    It should be called “The United States of ISRAEL”……….Since World War One, the Zionist Movement has managed to use America in two major ways. Like an “Attack Dog of War”………AND …….a “Cash Cow”………The book called “Against Our Better Judgement, How America was used to create Israel” by Alison Weir is an excellent well researched reference to read……………

    YES, Israel might have been useful during the cold war years but remember, the real power in America is in the hands of Wall Street, the Entertainment Industry, and the Think Tanks coupled with News Papers and major TV Networks……….So, it is all in the Family/Tribe…….

    • Vesuvius
      May 5, 2016 at 12:07

      Exactly, thank you Dr Soudy for bringing up Ms Weir’s excellent book here. Should be read by everyone, especially U.S. taxpayers.

  11. Bart Gruzalski
    May 2, 2016 at 16:58

    This is a topic that only Bernie Sanders has approached with his “level playing field” comments.

    The politicians have the ability to give US tax dollars to Israel only because the media and the politicians are unwilling to reveal the truth: $3B+ a year. The word “negotiations” only disguises what is going on and keeps the presstitutes happy.

    These taxpayer dollars are more needed at home. A proper “America First” policy would require exactly that, though Trump did do his pandering before the AIPAC.

    I don’t know if Democracy Now! has ever done a segment on this theft of US tax dollars by fancy politicians who are afraid of standing up for the American people. Does anyone know about DN! on this topic?

    • JWalters
      May 2, 2016 at 19:22

      Last night was the White House Correspondants Dinner, known in Israel as the White House Slaves Dinner. There was a brief recognition of that pesky slave Sanders, who had alluded to Israel’s last massacre in Gaza (60 Sandy Hooks in deaths, plus 10,000 injured). And some attendees who had praised Sanders for his courageous comments. But this night he didn’t mention the tyranny, nor did any of the slave reporters in attendance.

  12. Vollin
    May 2, 2016 at 14:09

    The irony of all this is that Zionist billionaires could easily afford to pick up this tab themselves instead of further burdening US taxpayers. Another irony is that Israeli Jews have a very high living standard and better medical coverage than the vast majority of Americans.

    If the public were aware of these facts, howls of outrage might force the political class to rethink what they are doing.

    • Bill Bodden
      May 2, 2016 at 18:29

      If the public were aware of these facts, howls of outrage might force the political class to rethink what they are doing.

      Unfortunately, whatever howls of rage that might be emitted from the public would be too few to get any attention from the political class. After being treated with contempt for decades in matters related to the economy, some adults have rallied to Trump’s proletarian slogans, but where were they when Occupy Wall Street protested Wall Street’s and Congress’s abuses and could have used their support? The younger generation supporting Bernie Sanders might prove to be more responsible than their parents’ pathetic generation, but that remains to be seen. And, why are so many supporting Hillary Clinton, Israel’s great friend who will very likely give even more?

  13. incontinent reader
    May 2, 2016 at 13:45

    Pritzker and, even more so, Lester Crown and the Crown family, as well as the rest of the Chicago mafia are ardent Zionists, and as Barry’s handlers their agenda has necessarily been his.

    At the same time, if one were to look at the debt Israel owes the Palestinians for their ethnic cleansing and forced removal, and put say a figure of $5,000 per person for the 750,000 expelled from their homes and homeland, and then compounded it annually at 9%, the total owed would be $3,113,853,000,000 and change. Change that base number to $10,000 and you have $6+ trillion. Now, factor in all of the other externalities and costs- after all, what how do you value the death or enslavement of an innocent victim? in tears only? Then proceed by calculating the costs of all of our wars- while economists have attempted to estimate the cost of the Iraq War for America, they’ve ignored the cost to the victims. Even if our printing presses were running 24/7, and again printing $100,000 bills (with Woodrow Wilson on the face side) we could not generate enough paper to pay for the costs of what we have wreaked on the rest of the world- and let’s not hear Hillary telling us of the benefits of bringing our brand of democracy to the rest of the world, or Madeleine Albright telling us it was worth it.

  14. Bill Johns
    May 2, 2016 at 13:23

    Without US Dollers Israel would fail with in days. If the supply of money is stopped what could Israel do so the US has the upper hand in any negotiation with Israel. If the US citizens are happy to continue to supply Israel with tax money’s to continue there Apartheid state so be it.

  15. Zachary Smith
    May 2, 2016 at 12:43

    I’ve no actual information at all about why Obama is throwing more money at Israel, but naturally I do have my own ‘tin-foil-hat’ theories.

    The entire issue could come down to a simple statement of You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You. Obama came out of obscurity to quickly become “somebody”. A person has to figure he had a sponsor, and possibly several who greased the skids for the super-fast promotions he got.

    Although BHO went to Big Name eastern schools, he ended up in the Chicago area. That’s where a quiet bunch of billionaires named Pritzker are based too. It’s always been my view that BHO was installed in the White House primarily as a Big Banker stooge. The Pritzkers weren’t entirely disinterested in that issue. The link is a 2013 Consortium News essay reprinted from 2008.

    hXXps://consortiumnews.com/2013/05/02/obamas-sub-prime-conflict/

    Then there is this story from Mondoweiss:

    Penny Pritzker’s support for Israel played crucial role in Obama’s rise

    The press anticipates controversy over Obama’s appointment of Chicago billionaire Penny Pritzker to be Commerce Secretary– because she tried to get around banking regulations, opposed unions and is a fatcat. But no one is talking about another potential source of controversy: Pritzker’s support for Israel, which played a crucial role in Obama’s rise.

    That’s because… support for Israel is never controversial in the mainstream press.

    But as co-chair of Obama’s fundraising committee during the ’08 campaign, Pritzker was very useful to Obama in affirming his support for Israel in the Jewish community.

    http://mondoweiss.net/2013/05/pritzkers-support-crucial/

    If I was a Pritzker billionaire who wanted LOTS of support for Israel, why should it be MY money that gets funnelled to the murderous and thieving little apartheid-practicing nation state? Instead, take the tax money from the Little People and give that to Holy Israel.

    It’s become clear that Obama has a wee bit of freedom – the man didn’t attack Iran! But in all other matters regarding Israel he has been a real trooper, allowing the neocons total freedom in Libya, Syria, and elsewhere.

  16. Bill Bodden
    May 2, 2016 at 12:33

    Of course, we have to consider that Obama will now be dialing for dollars for his presidential library and will have to give some thought to the feelings of several wealthy pro-Israel millionaires and billionaires.

    • jo6pac
      May 2, 2016 at 14:53

      My thought also.

  17. Dosamuno
    May 2, 2016 at 08:16

    Nowhere does the CIA analyst explain the reason for U.S. support for Israel. There are two main reasons:

    1. Israel is a surrogate for implementing U.S. interests:

    “The U.S. supports Israel’s dominance so it can serve as “a surrogate for American interests in this vital strategic region.” “Israel has helped defeat radical nationalist movements” and has been a “testing ground for U.S. made weaponry.” Moreover, the intelligence agencies of both countries have “collaborated,” and “Israel has funneled U.S. arms to third countries that the U.S. [could] not send arms to directly,…Iike South Africa, like the Contras, Guatemala under the military junta, [and] Iran. … It’s like Israel has just become another federal agency when it’s convenient to use and you want something done quietly.

    Although the strategic relationship between the United States and the Gulf Arab states in the region has been strengthening in recent years, these states “do not have the political stability, the technological sophistication, [or] the number of higher-trained armed forces personnel” as does Israel.”

    (Stephen Zunes)

    2. To facilitate the return of Jesus:

    “Christian Zionists, an Evangelical subset whose ranks are estimated at 20 million in the US, have in the past two decades poured millions of dollars of donations into Israel, formed a tight alliance with the Likud and other Israeli politicians seeking an expanded “Greater Israel,” and mobilized grass-roots efforts to get the US to adopt a similar policy.

    For Christian Zionists, the modern state of Israel is the fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham and the center of His action from now to the Second Coming of Christ and final battle of Armageddon, when the Antichrist will be defeated. But before this can occur, they say, biblical prophecy foretells the return of Jews from other countries; Israel’s possession of all the land between the Euphrates and Nile rivers; and the rebuilding of the Jewish temple where a Muslim site, Dome of the Rock, now stands.”

    (http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0707/p15s01-lire.html)

    Ghada Karmi, author of Married To Another Man, estimates that there are between “25 and 30 million Christian Zionists in America” (in 2004). She adds that other estimates suggest between 40 and 70 million, adding that an estimated one-third of congress members were Christian Zionists.

    (Married To Another Man, pp108-109)

    • Bill Cash
      May 8, 2016 at 10:27

      And when that happens, all the jews would be killed because they are not Christians. Israel gets the better of this deal because they aren’t crazy enough to believe in the Apocalypse.

  18. Tom Welsh
    May 2, 2016 at 06:00

    ‘The situation at hand is the equivalent of a nephew complaining about the amount of birthday gift money he got from an uncle and wanting uncle to agree to give more. Negotiation is not the appropriate response for uncle. Either walking or saying “take it or leave it” would be more appropriate, as would a stern reminder to the nephew about who in this relationship is the giver and who is the taker’.

    The most appropriate response would be to take back the gift, and not offer any further gifts. http://fairytalesandfolklore.com/tale.php?tale=656

    • Drew Hunkins
      May 2, 2016 at 10:42

      Unfortunately nephew has nuclear missiles, the power of blackmail, much control of uncle’s mass media, uncle’s congress, State Dept. and Treasury.

      In Noam Chomsky’s book “The Fateful Triangle” Chomsky mentions that the real unsaid ultimate target of Israel’s nuclear weapons is Washington. Tel Aviv has a deep unstated tacit understanding with Washington that Washington must eventually come around to Israel’s way of thinking ($4 billion dollar annual subsidies, full diplomatic support for West Bank land grabs and indiscriminate Gaza civilian bloodshed) or else.

      • Patrick McGilvery
        May 5, 2016 at 10:15

        If that bastard government were to ever think to nuke the US of A I would hope Israel would get the beating of its life and one that would never be forgotten. I am 63 years old and would re-enlist or try to anyway. I would want front line fighting and I was 11 bravo during Vietnam and still know how to follow an order. If not qualified for combat due to my age and shape I would do laundry, KP, lawn care or anything to free up and support a fighting man.

        • Hank
          May 6, 2016 at 12:07

          So what would happen is innocent Israelis would die while the REAL perpetrators of Israel’s crimes would go Scott free. Ditto for ANY war! What is needed are indictments(for war crimes) against any and all individuals who have helped implement the phony”war on terror” and the “enabling” false flag, 911! Why do powerless people always have to suffer for the crimes of a small powerful elite?

          • Patrick McGilvery
            May 7, 2016 at 06:27

            Indictments come from Grand Juries and Grand Juries only. Prosecutors have their access under lock and key but that didn’t use to be. Ordinary citizens, in early America, could present information to a Grand Jury and the Grand Jury would decide what to do. This needs to be restored again and would deal with much corruption and alphabet agents as well as the neocon traitors. But a nuke detonated in America under the “Samson option” would kill many innocent Americans. Very sad.

      • Carroll Price
        May 5, 2016 at 10:39

        Thanks Drew Hunkins for mentioning only a few reasons why the US is at a distinct disadvantage when dealing with Israel. With not the least of these being the real and ever present threat of blackmail being resorted to by Israel against any politician, including the president, who dares risk Israel’s disfavor.

        • Hank
          May 8, 2016 at 13:32

          Hillary Clinton is very blackmail-able. Some people would detonate the world if it meant hiding some embarrassing or damaging secret and I’m almost certain that Clinton fits this category! As for the “sadness” that would ensue if Israel exploded a nuke in the USA to blame “terrorists”, how about the ANGER it would cause among the people who KNOW what’s going on? It would be a big blow to Americans, but it would also be the DEATH blow to Israel’s apartheid fascist regime and the political end to ANYONE who gives blind support to them!

      • joe
        May 5, 2016 at 12:28

        The nephew not only has nuclear weapons but has its “Samson Option” which has 700 nukes pointed at the world’s 700 biggest cities and that’s the reason every country on earth pays the scummy nephew tribute.

      • May 8, 2016 at 07:49

        Mr Drew Hunkins ,you forget several offices that these people control, like the CIA, FBI,NSA and the Armed Forces of the USA, please read the agreement about the JINSA PROGRAM ,in which the USA sent his GENERALS and ADMIRALS to ISRAEL for indoctrination ,receiving money and training in Israel every year , do you believe that ? this is why P Obama had fired 175 Generals and Admirals from the Armed Forces during his eight years as President ,by the way your VP CHENNEY is responsible for that

    • Chet Roman
      May 3, 2016 at 16:23

      Actually, I think it’s closer to a local grocer being shaken down for protection money from a gang (in this case the Kosher Nostra). If the grocer doesn’t give the money demanded he will suffer because the gang members are everywhere.

      The U.S. will do quite well without giving any money or support to Israel, it’s the politicians who need “protection” against the Kosher Nostra and are worried about their careers or their “presidential library” and legacy. Just look at what the “gang” does to politicians or academics that don’t pay obeisance to the Lobby.

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