XPost: soc.culture.palestine, soc.culture.israel, alt.war.terrorism   
   From: al92653@xyz.com   
      
   Here's What Israel Is Really Costing American Taxpayers   
      
     By John Tiffany   
      
   IT IS OFTEN REPORTED THAT ISRAEL receives about $9.2 billion every year in   
   the form of economic aid from the U.S. government, but there are many   
   billions of dollars more in hidden costs and economic losses lurking beneath   
   the surface. A recently published economic analysis concluded that U.S.   
   support for the state of Israel has cost U.S. taxpayers nearly $3 trillion.   
   About 60 percent of those costs (about $1.7 trillion) arose from the U.S.   
   defense of the ever-expanding Israeli empire.   
      
   Support for the empire comes to $1.8 trillion, including special trade   
   advantages, preferential contracts, or aid buried in other accounts.   
      
   In addition to the financial outlay, U.S. aid to Israel costs some 275,000   
   American jobs each year. The trade-aid imbalance with Israel is between $6   
   billion and $10 billion. The largest single element in the costs has been   
   the series of oil-supply crises that have accompanied the Israeli-Arab wars   
   and the construction of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. These have cost the   
   U.S. $1.5 trillion, excluding the additional costs incurred since 2001.   
      
   The cost of supporting Israel increased drastically after the 1973   
   Israeli-Arab war. U.S. support for Israel during that war resulted in   
   additional costs for the American taxpayer of between $750 billion and $1   
   trillion. When Israel was losing the war, President Richard Nixon stepped in   
   to supply the Jewish state with U.S. weapons. Nixon's intervention triggered   
   the Arab oil embargo, which cost the U.S. as much as $600 billion in lost   
   GDP and another $450 billion in higher oil import costs.   
      
      
      
   The 1973 oil crisis cost the U.S. economy no less than $900 billion, and   
   probably as much as $1.2 trillion. As a result of the oil embargo the U.S.   
   government created the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to "insulate Israel   
   and the U.S. against the wielding of a future Arab "oil weapon."   
      
   The billion-barrel SPR has cost taxpayers more than $134 billion so far.   
   Making things worse, Israel gets "first call" on any oil available to the   
   U.S. if Israel's oil supply is stopped, according to an oil supply   
   guarantee, which former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger provided Israel   
   in 1975. The $3 trillion figure is actually too low, as it does not include   
   the increased costs incurred during the year-long buildup to the ongoing   
   wars against Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, in which Israel plays a   
   significant covert role.   
      
   The higher  oil prices incurred as a result of the Anglo-American campaign   
   against Iraq were absorbed by taxpayers. Israel also has many hidden costs   
   to the taxpayer. "Loans" made to Israel by the U.S. government invariably   
   wind up being paid by the American taxpayer as does the interest on the   
   money to Israel. Thus, it is reasonable to consider all government loans to   
   Israel the same as grants. Israel has received over $42 billion in waived   
   loans.   
      
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