Middle EastAnalysis

Extent of US military and economic aid reveals Israel’s reliance on Washington

Since its establishment in 1948, Israel has received $310bn in US assistance, making Jewish state the largest recipient of US foreign aid

The consequence of an overnight Israeli air strike in Baalbeck, eastern Lebanon, on Friday. Photograph: AFP via Getty Images
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Michael Jansen
Fri Sept 27 2024 - 15:55

US president Joe Biden and French president Emmanuel Macron led Thursday’s call for a 21-day ceasefire in Israel’s campaign against Hizbullah in Lebanon. While the plan was supported by Britain, Australia, Canada, the European Union, Germany, Italy, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu ordered the military to continue operation with “full force”. On Friday, he said Israel would engage in talks on a ceasefire without ceasing fire.

In Montreal, Macron told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: “I do believe that the US now has to increase the pressure on the [Israeli] prime minister” to commit to the plan. “War is not possible in Lebanon today [as war] would be a huge mistake, a huge risk of escalation.”

During his UN General Assembly address, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas pleaded, “stop sending weapons to Israel” to halt bloodshed in the West Bank and Gaza.

However, hours earlier the Biden administration had ceded its leverage on Netanyahu by releasing $3.5 billion (€3.1 billion) in funding for the purchase of US arms and munitions to enable Israel to continue with its Gaza and Lebanon offensives. Another $5.2 billion is in the pipeline to pay for air defence systems. This deal is in addition to the decade-long annual US commitment of $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel. In August, the US agreed to deliver in 2026 $20.3 billion in F-15 fighter planes, air-to-air missiles, tank and mortar rounds and related equipment.

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According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the US accounted for 69 per cent of Israeli conventional arms imports between 2019-2023. While the institute reported that the US hurriedly delivered thousands of bombs and missiles to Israel at the end of last year, the Biden administration made public only sales of $106 million in tank shells and $147 million in components for artillery shells.

The BBC cited US media which reported in March that the administration had completed more than 100 unannounced sales to Israel of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter and bunker-buster bombs and light arms. The value of each sale fell below the amount needing approval by Congress.

In May, under pressure from Congress, the administration paused deliveries of 1,800 907kg and 1,700 227kg bombs which Israel had used in densely populated residential areas in Gaza. In July, the administration resumed supplies of the 227kg bombs.

The US Council on Foreign Relations has reported that since its establishment in 1948, Israel has received about $310 billion in US economic and military assistance, making it the “largest cumulative recipient of US foreign aid”. Of this amount, $230 billion has been military aid. Most of the aid is in grants to pay for US military equipment and service purchases.