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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: paret who wrote (14197)	3/1/2003 11:06:53 AM
From: epicure	Respond to of 25898

Foreign Aid -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the wake of Camp David Accords and subsequent peace agreements between Arab states and Israel, the Middle East has received a larger amount of U.S. foreign aid than any other region in the world. Israel and Egypt, the original signatories to the Arab-Israeli peace process, have received the lion's share of this aid. Even as the foreign aid budget has been declining since 1985, spending for Egypt and Israel has remained constant. Aid to Israel In addition to its direct foreign aid, Israel normally receives more than one billion dollars in assistance from other portions of the federal budget. This extra aid from the Pentagon and other federal agencies in several years actually shows an increase in total foreign aid to Israel by an additional 12.2 percent. Estimates for total additional funding for fiscal year 2000 are not yet known, but preliminary indications are that Israel will receive substantial funds from the defense budget for joint U.S.-Israeli development of various weapons systems. Israel also benefits from a system known as "early disbursal" which is enjoyed by no other U.S. foreign aid recipient. By receiving its total aid package at the beginning of every fiscal year in a single "lump sum", the Israeli government is able to invest is foreign aid in interest-bearing accounts, thus accruing millions and millions of dollars until the money is actually needed. This long-standing formula of aid to Israel was recently challenged by the chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations who called ittupid foreign policy". status quo was eventually upheld by supporters claiming that it was no time to change the formula to Israel's disadvantage. erts in foreign aid and the architects of the current U.S. policy admit that other deserving aid recipients are often being squeezed out of the picture. Indeed, countries devastated by natural disasters or in need of immediate assistance often become embroiled in partisan budget politics and must then wait for funding to be allocated in periodic installments. Jordan, for example, has only received a portion of its emergency aid supplement after the death of King Hussein in February 1999. .............. Egypt is the second largest recipient (after Israel) of U.S. aid. It gets $1.3 billion annually in military aid and about $600 million per year in economic assistance—which amounts to about 10 percent of the total U.S. foreign aid budget of approximately $14 billion. Nonetheless, Egypt’s economy remains weak, with population growth far exceeding economic output. ................... I don't think we should we aiding Egypt or Israel to the extent that we are. Israel accounts for 1/3 of our foreign aid budget- that is ridiculous.