On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate voted to approve a special and extensive aid package for America’s allies, Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel. The package reflects the geopolitical struggle as seen by the United States, in which its allies are fighting up against countries that are trying to undermine the world order – Russia, China and Iran, respectively. The aid package was approved by the House about a week ago, and passed with extraordinary speed through the Senate (80 to 19), in the face of pressure from President Biden, who defined it as “a very urgent need”.
The triple pack includes $95 billion, of which 26.5 billion are allocated to Israel. $9 billion out of those 26 are for humanitarian aid to Gaza residents (which is also an economic relief for Israel), and the rest is devoted to the Israeli defence establishment – an amount equivalent to about a fifth of Israel’s (original) defence budget. The funds will go primarily to replenish the defence systems, including Iron Dome and the David’s sling; to develop new defence systems such as the Light ray; and to conventional and advanced weapons that the IDF needs.
This huge defence budget, which is larger than Sudan’s total GDP, (for the sake of comparison), and reflects the steadfast support of the United States for Israel, and the diplomatic and economic backing Israel continues to enjoy in this war by the American administration, despite occasional crises regarding the questions of war management.
The American administration reflects the American public, which stands largely alongside Israel. However, the pro-Palestinian minority is making a lot of noise, and over the past weekend, the situation has reached an explosion on the campuses of leading universities across the country – including Yale, Columbia, Michigan, and others. In recent days, entire tents dedicated to promoting the Palestinian struggle have been opened, some of which are “forbidden” for Zionists, and from which anti-Israelic and anti-Semitic taunts are heard. Police were deployed on many campuses and arrested hundreds of protesters who were acting illegally or violently.
It seems now that the increasing extremism in the demonstrations are actually causing a boomerang reaction – with many donors (such as Robert Kraft) threatening to stop contributing to universities, and with average Americans deterred by the violence and rhetoric of these audiences and returning to lean on the side of Israel. “The silent majority” called for the phenomenon during the anti-Vietnam demonstrations – while it is hoped that unlike that war, this time the demonstrations will not affect the government’s policy. The aid package passed through the legislature signals that the government’s heart is still in the right place.
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