U.S. government aid to Israel is in dispute now as never before. In part, this has to do with the perception that Israel’s security needs have diminished, what with the end of Soviet help for Israel’s enemies and with advances in the peace process. It also results from the budget pressures that are causing U.S. politicians to cut back on a variety of long-established and popular programs. The new Congress’s skepticism toward welfare applies not just to the indigent in urban America but also to foreign states.

Israeli leaders have sought reassurance that these factors will not lead to a reduction in aid. When Israel’s Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was in the United States to address the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference in May 1995, he won a pledge from President Bill Clinton to “protect bilateral assistance to Israel.”¹ And while Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Jesse Helms (Republican of North Carolina) condemns foreign aid in general, he makes an exception for aid to Israel.

But another dynamic is also at work. A number of important voices among those concerned about Israel’s welfare are saying that perpetual U.S. financial aid to Israel may not be a good thing. In January 1994, Yossi Beilin, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, told a gathering of the Women’s International Zionist Organization that Israel may no longer need diaspora Jewry’s contributions: “If our economic situation is better than in many of your countries, how can we go on asking for your charity?”² Zalman Shoval, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States and a leading figure in the Likud party, recently told an American audience that Israel should suggest through its own initiative that the United States gradually phase out civilian economic aid. This skepticism is a positive development, in part because it goes beyond the old, sterile points raised by those trying to hurt Israel by denying it assistance; and in part because it returns the issue of aid to a practical discussion of benefits and losses.

Click here to continue reading this excellent article…

I’ve only recently figured out what this excitement actually is.

I first got interested in the whole freedom movement when I heard that Ron Paul wanted to end all foreign aid, including to my country, Israel. This seemed like a spectacular idea to me. I hate the idea of taking American tax payer money I don’t need. The only reason we take it, by the way, is not because we need it. It’s that we don’t want to feel alone, and Jews always feel a deep existential isolation and loneliness. “As I see them from the mountain tops, gaze on them from the heights, this is a people that dwells alone, not counted among the Nations,” says Balaam of the People of Israel in Numbers 23:9. We still feel that loneliness. So we take the money. It’s shameful, it’s theft, it’s destructive, it’s morally wrong, and it makes people hate us for tying them into a conflict they have no business trying to solve. I wanted it to end and didn’t trust any Israeli leader to give it up on his own, so I looked up more about Ron Paul.

Click here to continue reading

Mossad chief Tamir Pardo addressed a conclave of Israeli ambassadors in Jerusalem on Thursday, saying that Israel’s existence is not inevitably endangered by Iran acquiring an atomic weapon, even as Israel has tried to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program.

“What is the significance of the term ‘existential?’” Mr. Pardo was quoted as saying by several ambassadors. “If you said a nuclear bomb in Iranian hands was an ‘existential’ threat, that would mean that we would have to close up shop. That’s not the situation. The term is used too freely.”

Click here to continue reading the Washington Times article

When considering the fact that 15 of the 19 September 11, 2001 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia, and that the Saudi government openly supports the terrorist group Hamas, it’s not hard to imagine a scenario where these American weapons of war will one day be used against the Israeli people.  Sadly, this isn’t anything new… Our government has been building up Saudi Arabia’s military for decades both under Republican and Democrat administrations.

Our so-called “pro-Israel” government is playing with fire and doesn’t realize the unintended consequences of its own actions.

Bottom line: Ron Paul would end this craziness and stop selling Israel’s enemies weapons of war.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is poised to announce the sale of nearly $30 billion worth of F-15 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The deal will send 84 new fighter jets and upgrades for 70 more, for a total of $29.4 billion, according to the officials, who requested anonymity because the sale has not been made public.

The agreement boosts the military strength of Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, at a time when the Obama administration is looking to counter Iranian threats in the region.

Click here to continue reading…