Cumulative Total Direct Aid

The current conservative estimate of total U.S. direct aid to Israel is $104.601 billion. Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. aid since World War II. However, because of the uncertainties and ambiguities associated with aid for Israel—some buried in the budgets of other government agencies, mostly the Defense Department (DOD), or in a form not easily quantifiable—such as the early disbursement of aid, allowing Israel a direct gain and the U.S. Treasury a direct loss of the interest on the unspent money—arriving at an exact amount probably is not possible.

The May 2003 WRMEA estimate was $97.52 billion through FY ‘03. That estimate was based on a February 2003 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, which used available and verifiable numbers, that gave cumulative aid to Israel from 1949 through FY ‘02 at $87.104 billion. The CRS number surely was too low, however, because, although it did include such things as the old food-for-peace program, the $1.2 billion from the Wye agreement and the subsidy for “refugee resettlement,” it did not include money from the DOD budget, on the grounds that those funds are for joint research and development projects, nor did it include estimated interest on the early disbursement of aid funds.

Using as a base the CRS number of $87.104 billion through FY 2002, the May 2003 WRMEA estimate added $5.454 billion from the DOD, $1.851 billion estimated interest from early disbursement of aid, $0.009 billion from the American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) account, $.040 billion from “all other” accounts, plus $3.063 billion for FY ‘03, giving a grand total of $97.521 billion. The $3.063 billion for FY ‘03 consisted of $2.7 billion in economic and military grants, $60 million for refugee resettlement, $250 million from the DOD, $41 million in imputed interest, $2.3 million from the ASHA account, and $10 million from all other accounts

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Source: Washington Report, April. 2005