A majority Americans say US foreign aid to Israel is excessive – either “much

too much” (32.5 percent) or “too much’ (29.4 percent). The single-question March

10, 2016 opinion survey, fielded through Google

Consumer Surveys, reveals only slight changes since it was first asked on

September

27, 2014. (For details on sample size, bias and other findings, see the

survey data links above).

While Adult Internet users believing US aid to Israel is either “too little”

or “much too little” increased a net 1.5 percentage points overall, those believing

it to be “too much” or “much too much” rose 1.2 percentage points. Americans

believing aid was “about right” declined 2.6 percentage points.

The US has provided more aid since Israel’s creation in 1948 – $250 billion

adjusted for inflation – than to any other foreign country according to unclassified

government figures (PDF) adjusted for inflation. These figures do not include

separate funding flows from state and municipal governments that Israel affinity

organizations quietly lobby in order to provide even more aid to Israel. The

quarter-trillion-dollar figure also excludes classified US federal government

support.

American military and intelligence aid is now at “unprecedented” levels according

to President Obama in a 2015 speech delivered at American University. If

true, secret intelligence support may now have reached an additional $1.9-$13.2

billion annually depending on whether Obama adjusted for inflation. Since annual

military aid is publicly reported, unreported intelligence aid would have to

be within that range in order for the total to truly historically be “unprecedented.”

However, the CIA refuses to disclose how much the Obama administration is secretly

funneling to Israel, a matter now subject to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

Since 1948 – and even more so after the collapse of the Soviet Union – annual

US aid packages to Israel have largely been driven by the lobbying efforts of

Israel affinity organizations in the United States rather than strategic or

national defense calculations. Today, the annual combined revenue of 336 distinct

Israel affinity organizations is closely correlated to the total unclassified

annual US Israel aid package. On a chart, unclassified US foreign aid resembles

an enormous “matching grants” program under which US elected officials, appointees

and captured agencies give away taxpayer dollars in roughly the same amounts

the Israel lobby raises – tax-exempt – in order to advocate, educate, subsidize

and lobby Israel’s priorities in America. Another nonmilitary or intelligence

agency has also played a role in gutting the accountability of Israel affinity

organizations, such as the Weizmann Institute for Science which conducts nuclear

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