US Helps Israel 27 Times More Than Helping Palestine

US President Joe Biden with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu/PHOTO via Instagram @potus

JAKARTA - Anadolu collected some official data and concluded the United States is helping Israel financially 27 times more than helping Palestine.

In a report published Thursday, May 30, Anadolu said Israel has so far been the largest US aid recipient, according to data from the United States International Development Agency (USAID) and Congressional Research Services.

As reported by ANTARA, the data shows that 297 billion US dollars (Rp4,814 trillion) of US taxpayers were donated by the US to Israel between 1946 and 2023 as economic and military assistance. The closest recipient, Egypt, is in second place on the list with a total of 167 billion US dollars (Rp2,706 trillion).

Since the Pentagon's announcement that an emergency mission will be carried out to deliver aid to Gaza, the US has temporarily agreed to give Israel nearly $4 billion per year by 2028. The aid is primarily to support the Israeli military and also includes funding for similar purposes.

The US approved aid of 5.2 billion US dollars (Rp84.2 trillion) for the addition and expansion of Israel's missile and rocket defense systems, while another US$3.5 billion (Rp56.7 trillion) was allocated for the purchase of advanced weapons systems.

Then another USD 1 billion (IDR 16.2 trillion) was given to increase Israeli weapons production. Then USD 4.4 billion (IDR 71.3 trillion) was set aside for the supply and other defense services provided to Israel.

Finally, about USD 2.4 billion (IDR 38.9 trillion) was allocated to support US operations in the region amid the ongoing Gaza war.

In addition, the bill passed by the US House of Representatives on April 20 is one of the important indicators of the US stance on Israel and Gaza. It is estimated that 17 billion US dollars in defense assistance (Rp275 trillion) was given to Israel and only two billion US dollars (Rp 32 trillion) for Gaza.

On the other hand, data from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the US Congress shows that the US has provided more than five billion US dollars (Rp81 trillion) of bilateral assistance to Palestine since 1994.

Prior to that date, US assistance for Palestine was mostly channeled through the Agency for Assistance and the Work of the Nation for Palestinian Refugees Near the East (UNRWA).

CRS data shows that since 1950, US assistance through UNRWA amounted to more than 6 billion US dollars (Rp97.2 trillion), bringing the total to 11 billion US dollars (Rp178.3 trillion and showing the US has helped Israel 27 times more than financially helping Palestine.