Another red line crossed, in the mainstream media. Walter Pincus in the Washington Post calls for U.S. to review all the money we give to Israel. The headline: “US must reevaluate its assistance to Israel.”
As the country reviews its spending on defense and foreign assistance, it is time to examine the funding the United States provides to Israel…. The question for the Obama administration, Congress and, in the end, perhaps the American public, is: Given present economic problems, should the United States supply the money to make up for reductions the Israelis are making in their own defense budget?
Adds a friend: My jaw dropped when I read this on the metro this morning.
Such a headline in a flagship MSM outlet. Pincus has the chops to write something like this since he’s been covering US foreign and military policy since the Vietnam war. An article like this in Wapo even 2 years ago would have been unthinkable. A very tiny oversight: he doesn’t mention the hundreds of millions of dollars tucked into the State Department budget since 1973 for refugee resettlement in Israel. This year it’s $20M. First, Israel is still resettling refugees? Second, a country with the 26th highest GDP can’t pay to resettle refugees in its own country? That’s a scandal.
A bigger scandal is that the International Aid budget is being seriously slashed, percentage wise more than any other budget. Funding to fight poverty and humanitarian assistance. The budget is only a shade over $50B. But aid to Israel remains untouched.
Here’s an excerpt from a 2002 congressional research service report to give you an idea. Link to the full report.
Aid for Soviet and Ethiopian Jewish Refugees “US aid for Soviet and other immigrants in Israel has taken two forms: first, grants through the Department of State refugee and migration account; second, through the housing loan guarantee and Soviet immigrant loan guarantee programs. The United States began providing grants to Israel under the refugee and migration account in 1973. Congress increased the funding level up to $80 million per year in 1992, when the wave of Soviet immigrants crested. H.Rept. 105-401 of November 12, 1997, on H.R. 2159, the foreign operations appropriation bill, stated that the level would decrease to $70 million in FY1999 and to $60 million in FY2000 because the declining numbers of Soviet immigrants reduced Israel’s need. The President requested $60 million for immigrant assistance for FY2003.” end
Farewell, Mr. Pincus. It was nice knowing you.
Mr. Pincus is seen as someone very close to the nation’s intelligence and defense establishment. At a time the Pentagon budget may be on the chopping block, perhaps he is reflecting some of their envy/ resentment that the huge US subsidies for the Israeli military seem politically untouchable.
the US isn’t increasing aid to Israel, Pincus is being misleading.
David Petraeus to Walter Pincus: We have decided it is ok to talk about US Aid to Israel.
Walter Pincus: Ok, but Im going to need an exclusive with you shortly thereafter.
Look for a David “Israeli intransigence could cost American lives” Petraeus expose sometime soon.
As a finish carpenter, high end, in the Central Valley of California, I deal with oil and agri money. HUGE wealth is to be found around Bakersfield, all the way up to and including Fresno, and Sacramento. People do not realize the extent of the wealth that the agricultural heavies enjoy. Also, although California is touted as a “liberal leftist” state, I can assure you that Central Cal is a hotbed of extremely wealthy right wing conservatives.
Point being? Daily, I am amazed at the depth of the ignorance intelligent and successful people possess about our relationship with Israel, and the activities, policies, and actions that Israel engages in.
The narrative is the enabler. The narrative MUST be changed if the actual policies are to change. Public rhetorical push back, particularly by those that have shown an inclination to tell the truth, is imperative. Case in point, Petraeus. Silenced since his intitial comments on the corrosive effect Israel has on our security and world standing, he opened the door, only to shut it again when it became clear that his carreer was threatended by his bold honesty. Obama is another such indicator of how completely the zionist narrative has been able to drown out any public criticism of Israel, and our relationship with Israel. And how many journalists have gone down in flames for daring to report the truth?
Its changing. Israel, and the truth, are becoming acceptable targets for debate. Its about time.
But more important than celebrating on blogs such as this one, is our work as individuals. Opening up the debate on our jobsites, in our offices, our churches, at our children’s soccer games and little league meetings, and around our dinner tables is the REAL and EFFECTIVE manner in which this narrative will change, and the truth will finally out.
I have found my clientele, conservative and liberal alike, open to a fresh narrative, and hungry for facts. They are beginning to question the wisdom of Washington, in ALL areas of debate. And, they are beginning to see the partisan and special interest-driven nature of our modern day media. Because the media says so is no longer an accepted premise, whether they are MSNBC viewers, or Fox viewers.
There are cracks in the ediface. Its up to you, as individuals, to bring it down.