Re-blogged from the web-log of Dr. Jim West.
The picture says it all: This is one of the main reasons the USA has never been, and probably will never be, an honest broker in this region, which would call for the application of even-handed, common-sense justice (not to mention the clear demands of international humanitarian law) to the festering problems of the Israeli-Palestinian impasse.
For all our largess (even if it were a worthy pursuit, which it’s not), how much leverage does America actually have over the policies and actions of Israel’s government? None — because we demand none. How much respect do we get from them in return? Even less — the Israelis consider Uncle Sam one big “freier” (modern Hebrew, from Yiddish), a pitiable sucker.
You read that correctly. Israel gets over half of all the money the US flushes down the toilet of the military/industrial complex. Christian Zionists are complicit in this horrific misuse of American money through their support of Israel.
Tom Powers -- VIEW FROM JERUSALEM 
Thank you US OF A. Do you wonder why Israel needs such support. If our neighbors weren’t so hostile the need wouldn’t exist.
So, there it is: Israel’s self-imposed paradigm of existential threat, which has kept it in a declared “state of emergency” for every moment of it’s 65-year existence, justifying a raft of draconian, anti-democratic laws and ordinances. Must the paradigm forever trump all other considerations, including the dictates of common sense?
The State of Israel has by far the most highly developed military machine in the region, and is even a major exporter of military hardware and technology. I’m sorry, but they don’t need us — US. In my opinion they should be allowed to fight their own battles, both militarily and diplomatically, without America’s automatic veto-protection in the UN Security Council.
The truth is, it is quite illegal for the US government to provide one dime of this aid as long as Israel refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. And why is it that Israel itself is regarded almost universally as the Middle East’s neighborhood bully? Is the world-at-large just plagued with perceptual problems? Oh, I forgot: Israel is “exceptional”, just like Big Brother across the pond. (tp)