AN ALLIANCE OF EQUALS: WHY ISRAEL SHOULD END AMERICAN MILITARY AID

It's no secret that since October 7, 2023, I have taken strong positions on Israel's right to defend itself. That only surprised people who didn't know about my Zionist background (it's in my bio!). To be fair, that included more Michigan folks than those who knew me in Texas, Jerusalem, Illinois or Florida.

With this commentary I’m suggesting what may be another surprise: I support ending U.S. military “aid” to Israel. And I have good reasons.

If that has you scratching your head, let me begin by explaining why I put the word aid in quotation marks. American military “aid” to Israel has never been charity. Nor is it provided out of generosity, a special subsidy granted out of affection or guilt. In reality, this aid (dropping the quotation marks now) functions primarily as an American investment in our nation's own defense industry. Though routed through Israel, it is governed entirely by American priorities.

Everyone seems to know the headline number of $3.8 billion. That sounds astronomical, especially to clueless critics who post on social media or hold up signs at their anti-Israel rallies promising that an end to this aid would somehow usher in free healthcare or whatever fantasy they believe it would pay for to fix America’s problems. I agree that this is a lot of money. But I also recognize that in government terms it's barely a rounding error.

California alone has wasted over $100 billion on high-speed rail that still does not exist. Pandemic-era relief fraud cost the United States hundreds of billions of dollars. The Pentagon throws away billions more every year simply maintaining excess offices and bureaucracy. If $3.8 billion a year were enough to transform American society, we would already be living in a utopia. Still, it is a lot of assistance and for that reason alone Americans should understand how it actually works. Most have no clue.

The first thing to understand is that it has never been a blank check. Israel does not receive money to go arms shopping. What Israel receives is credits to buy American weapons determined by American conditions and subject to American political moods.

This arrangement creates American defense-industry jobs provided by Israeli contracts. It also advances U.S. weapons development through Israeli innovation and real-world defensive use, the lessons of which flow back to the Pentagon. This is how modern defense partnerships function. There is nothing nefarious about it. But it does mean that the United States receives a great deal of the benefits.

As an American, that has always been at least one of the reasons that I've always backed U.S. aid. Ironically, there have long been stronger reasons for Israelis to reconsider it and those reasons are adding up.

There is no such thing as unconditional military aid. When it comes to military assistance to Israel, history reminds us that it's always come with conditions, frequently changing from administration to administration. We all remember President Truman's nearly instantaneous recognition of Israel's independence. What we forget is that it came with an arms embargo that left the newborn Jewish state scrambling to survive. Once aid was introduced, it became both carrot and stick for revolving administrations. From Nixon to Carter to Reagan to Clinto, to both Bushes and beyond, Israelis have always had to answer to America. Israelis I have met and learned from over the years emphasize that while the pressure was applied in the language of alliance, it often felt less like partnership and more like orders to a vassal.

As if the pressures of past administrations (many of which I agreed with!) were not enough, I also have distinctly Jewish reasons for wanting the aid to end. Those reasons predominately lie in the alarming rise of Jew-hatred in the United States. Polling indicates that it's up in significant ways on both the left and the right. On the left, Israel and its supporters are increasingly treated as moral pariahs, as politicians compete to endorse the modern blood libel of genocide in order to gain support. On the right, anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiment is openly erupting, even as leaders at the highest levels refuse to acknowledge it. This situation is worse in every way among younger Americans.

Yet even if every American enthusiastically supported Israel, I would still favor ending the aid. America is (happily!) a democracy where winds of political change are unavoidable. And no grown-up nation like Israel can depend for its survival on the outcome of another country’s elections. Over almost fifty years of hearing briefings on U.S.–Israel relations, I have grown weary of the quadrennial guessing game about whether the next administration will be supportive, hostile, indifferent, or simply capricious (like the current president).

When Prime Minister Netanyahu announced plans to wind down U.S. aid, it was not an act of ingratitude. Israelis are among the most pro-American citizens of any U.S. ally. But Israelis are also Jews, and Jews have learned that danger does not come only from weakness. It also comes from the hidden costs of dependency, especially when it comes to defending the tiny nation that is home to roughly half of the Jewish People.

Over the years this dependence on aid has distorted Israeli procurement decisions and delayed critical acquisitions. U.S. officials, often responding to congressional pressure, have intruded into Israeli decisions about tactics, timing, and strategy, subjecting nearly every security choice to diplomatic negotiations with one of its closest allies. Imagine fighting a multinational constellation of eliminationist states and terror groups while maintaining a constant posture of explanation and justification. That's what the aid costs Israel.

Today, with so many strings attached, the aid often provides more leverage than necessary assistance. Happily, ending it is now possible because Israel no longer requires it. As a major developer and exporter of advanced defense technology, Israel's military industry is already globally competitive. Revenues from independent production and international sales can more than compensate for the loss of American funding. This will grow once Israel can choose systems based on strategic need rather than American restrictions.

Israeli defensive independence should not in any way require our two nations to part ways. Barring a truly catastrophic turn toward anti-Jewish sentiment, we should remain staunch allies. What will change is the nature of the relationship as it transforms into a mature alliance of equals, no longer hostage to America's internal or external political volatility.

Many supporters of Israel think this is too risky. I argue the opposite. The real risk for the Jewish People is Israel's dependence on a political system that is increasingly polarized, increasingly unpredictable, and increasingly willing to weaponize Israel for domestic gain. As for Israel’s unyielding critics, they will surely find new libels to spread, but they will no longer have this particular cudgel to wield against Israel.

For the adult critics in the room it is important to know that intelligence cooperation will continue. What may be disrupted are those corners of the American defense industry that have grown accustomed to guaranteed Israeli purchases. I have little doubt that they'll recover.

Israel today is a sovereign nation with a sophisticated economy, a formidable military, and the capacity to stand on its own. The relationship with the United States can and must continue, but it should do so in a relationship between equals, not one structured around dependency and leverage.

Ending this so-called aid will not weaken Israel, it will strengthen it. And as an added benefit, it will eliminate corrosive perceptions of Israeli dependency on America and of America's fealty to Israeli policy. Each nation must place its own needs at the center of its foreign policy. As a Jew and an American it is my profound hope that those needs continue to align. That said, recognizing the possibility that it someday could change may be the strongest reason for why this change is necessary.

In short, the time has come for Israel’s declaration of defensive independence.