This is how American military support for Israel guarantees its qualitative superiority News

In early November, the US House of Representatives approved the president’s administration’s request joe biden By allocating $14.3 billion in aid to Israel, which highlights the volume of American aid and its goals, and how the process of institutionalizing and codifying it took place over time.

According to a study issued this year by the Congressional Research Service, the states provided Israel with aid from 1948 until the beginning of 2023 worth $158.66 billion without taking into account the inflation rate. If the inflation rate is taken into account, it would amount to $260 billion.

Most of this aid is military aid, as in 2007 Washington stopped its economic aid to Tel Aviv, which it began in 1971, after Israel became one of the most developed countries in the world, as Israel’s per capita gross domestic product ranked 14th in the world in 2022.

Memoranda of Understanding

Since 1999, the volume of American aid to Israel has been determined by “memorandums of understanding” between them for a period of 10 years.

This is because memorandums of understanding are not legally binding agreements like treaties, and do not require ratification by the US Senate. They also allow Congress to provide supplementary allocations, and even allow – under exceptional circumstances such as wars – the provision of additional aid packages, as in the last package.

The first memorandum of understanding for US aid to Israel covered the period from 1999 to 2008, amounting to $21.3 billion, then it increased to $30 billion in the second memorandum of understanding, which covered the period from 2009 to 2018.

The peak reached $33 billion in the third memorandum of understanding covering the period from 2019 to 2028, at $3.3 billion annually, in addition to $500 million annually allocated to missile defense programs. Therefore, Congress allocated in the 2023 budget $3.8 billion to Israel.

Guarantee of excellence

In 1977, Congress drafted a provision stating that “in accordance with the special historical relationship between the United States and Israel, US arms sales to Middle Eastern countries should not weaken Israel’s deterrent power or undermine the military balance in the Middle East.”

In 1981, then US Secretary of State Alexander Haig explained to Congress that one of the central aspects of US policy since the October 1973 War was ensuring that Israel maintained qualitative military superiority in the Middle East.

According to the American concept, this means that “Israel must rely on better equipment and training, to compensate for being much smaller in terms of land area and population than most of its potential opponents.”

According to the concept of ensuring Israeli qualitative military superiority, Tel Aviv receives more advanced weapons than other countries in the region, and is also allowed to add components that increase the capabilities of similar weapons sold to countries in the region.

For example, Israel is the only one in the Middle East that possesses F-35 aircraft, as it purchased 50 of the aforementioned aircraft with American funding, which allows it to strike targets – without the need to refuel – in a circle that includes Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, most of Egypt and Turkey. And Saudi Arabia.

In application of the aforementioned concept, when the President’s administration agreed Barack Obama In 2013, upon selling the UAE an advanced version of the F-16 aircraft, then US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced – in return – the sale of advanced KC-13 refueling aircraft to Tel Aviv, which made Israel the second foreign country in the world that Washington agreed to sell. That plane after Japan.

The deal entered into force in August 2022, with the American company Boeing and Israel signing a contract to purchase 4 KC-46A aircraft worth $927 million, to be delivered in 2026.

Since the procedures related to ensuring Israel’s qualitative military superiority were conducted according to subjective assessments of members of joint committees from both sides, US Representative Howard Berman sought to codify these procedures.

After assuming the position of Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives, he quickly incorporated a clause into the Naval Ship Transfer Act of 2008 (PL 110-429), stipulating that an assessment of Israel’s qualitative military superiority be conducted every 4 years, and amending the Arms Export Control Law to stipulate the export of weapons America to any country in the Middle East, ensuring that such a sale will not negatively affect Israel’s qualitative military superiority.

Other benefits

Annual US military funding grants represent approximately 16% of the total Israeli military budget. This contributed to transforming the Israeli army into one of the most technically advanced armies.

It also helped Tel Aviv build its local military industry, making it ranked tenth globally among the largest arms exporters in the period from 2018 to 2022, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) classification, with total exports amounting to $11.3 billion in 2021.

For example, from 2011 until the beginning of 2023, the United States provided about $3 billion to Israel to purchase Iron Dome batteries and missiles. Since 2006, it also provided about $2.4 billion to develop the “David’s Sling” missile defense system, and $4.5 billion to develop the “Arrow” system. Arrow” for missile defense.

These billions helped Israeli arms companies finance research, development, and manufacturing operations, allowing companies such as Israel Air Industries, Rafael, and Elbit Systems to export about 70% of their production, according to the book “The Israeli Defense Industry and American Security Assistance” issued by the National Security Institute. Israel, while India, Azerbaijan, and Vietnam are among the three largest markets for Israeli arms exports.

The new US aid package of $14.3 billion represents a continuation of Washington’s policies seeking to ensure Israeli military superiority in the region, despite the fact that Tel Aviv did not engage in conflicts and wars against regular armies during the last half of the current century, and its wars were limited to groups and organizations.

Contrary to expectations, this massive aid did not enable the Israeli army to repel the attack launched by Al-Qassam fighters on the morning of last October 7, on the Gaza envelope area, with semi-primitive weapons limited to automatic rifles, shoulder-fired launchers, and locally manufactured missiles, without possessing tanks or Aircraft or heavy artillery.