The Jewish lobby’s control over the US government has been demonstrated once again with the news that four-fifths of the Senate have signed a letter demanding that Israel be given even more cash than ever before.

Eighty-three of the 100 senators have signed the letter—among them Ted Cruz.

The letter—which originated with the American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC), one of the US’s most prominent Jewish lobbies, urges a more “robust” defense package for Israel, and has so far gathered the signatures of 51 Republican and 32 Democratic senators.

The letter, addressed to President Barack Obama, says that it commends him for his “continued work on negotiating a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for security assistance to Israel,” but that, in “light of Israel’s dramatically rising defense challenges, we stand ready to support a substantially enhanced new long-term agreement to help provide Israel the resources it requires to defend itself and preserve its qualitative military edge.”

It then claims that Israel is a “central pillar” of the US’s national strategy in the Middle East but that “unfortunately, Israel faces a variety of threats which require increasing the resources devoted to its defense.”

It then lists these “threats:” Hezbollah, which it claims has “positioned up to 150,000 rockets and missiles to Israel’s north,”—a far-fetched claim which it took without question from Israeli intelligence.

The next “threat” is Syria. Ignoring the fact that the “rebels” in that country would not have been able to spread the war without US military and financial assistance, the senators’ letter asserts that “Disorder in Syria has spawned multiple terrorist groups dedicated to Israel’s destruction, including affiliates of al Qaeda and ISIS.”

The increasingly hysterical letter even posits the idea that Iran is on the point of physically attacking Israel:

“Iran’s intervention in Syria has brought the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps and Shi’ite militias near Israel’s border.”

It then goes on to claim that Iran is supplying anti-Israel groups in Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula—and then rounds it all off with yet another phantasmagorical claim that Iran is still building “atom bombs”—despite all of those lies having long since been disproved.

“Iran is actively helping most of these groups, in addition to illicitly testing sophisticated ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Moreover, Israel must prepare for the likelihood that Iran will resume its quest for nuclear weapons.”

From these claims alone, it is clear that the contents of this letter has been manufactured in Israel and by the US Jewish lobby—because no one else makes up such outrageous lies and expects anyone to believe them.

Nonetheless, the power of the Jewish lobby over the US government is demonstrated by the fact that they can get the majority of the Senate to put their names to such an obvious concoction of lies.

The letter did not provide a figure for the increased suggested aid, but earlier “negotiations” between the Israeli and US governments indicate that the final figure is to be anywhere between $4 and $5 billion per year.

The Obama administration wants to cement a new 10-year “defense aid” deal before he leaves office in January to demonstrate his commitment to Israel’s security.

A White House official said discussions with Israel were continuing.

“We are prepared to sign an MOU with Israel that would constitute the largest single pledge of military assistance to any country in US history,” the official said.