Financial Aid / Israel

The Israeli government is the largest recipient of US financial aid in the world, receiving over one-third of total US aid to foreign countries4, even though Israel’s population comprises just .001% of the world’s population and has one the world’s higher per capita incomes.

Since 1949 the US has given Israel a total of $84,854,827,200. The interest costs born by US taxpayers on behalf of Israel are $49,937,000,000 – making the total amount of aid given to Israel since 1949 $134,791,507,200 (more than $134 billion).5

The total cost of this financial aid to US tax payers per Israeli is $23,240.

Since 1992, the US has offered Israel an additional $2 billion in loan guarantees every year.6

Nearly all past loans to Israel have been forgiven – leading Israel to claim that they have never defaulted on repayment of a US loan – with most loans made on the understanding that they would be forgiven before Israel was required to repay them.

In 1997 alone, the total of US grants and loan guarantees to Israel was $5.5 billion, i.e., $15,068,493 per day.

[link to www.palestinemonitor.org]

Financial Aid / Palestine

USAID funding for the West Bank and Gaza between 1993 and 2004 totaled approximately $1.5 billion.

Following the signing of the Oslo Accords in September 1993, the U.S. government provided $375 million between 1993 and 1998 through USAID to implement a development program in the West Bank and Gaza.

In 1999, USAID West Bank & Gaza´s budget was $80 million. In 2000 its level increased to over $118 million. In 2000, the Congress approved an additional $400 million to add to the USAID West Bank and Gaza program to facilitate implementation of the Wye River Accords.

In 2001, USAID West Bank/Gaza´s program budget was $114 million. In 2002 and 2003, USAID received $75 million from Congress for its program. In addition, in May of 2003, the Congress approved an additional $50 Million of supplemental funds. These funds went directly toward improving Palestinian lives: rebuilding infrastructure, creating jobs, and reinvigorating the Palestinian economy.

Since October 2000, more than $200 million has been directed toward emergency and humanitarian assistance, which includes providing immediate aid in the areas of water, health, food, and employment, and for the repair of basic municipal infrastructure.

Using the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Planning comparative data, the U.S. is the largest bilateral donor in the West Bank and Gaza.

[link to www.usaid.gov]


...the US gives money to rebuild Palestinian infrastructure so that the Israelis can tear it down again...with US funding???