Noting that the US now foots 18 percent of Israel's defense budget, WaPo's veteran national security reporter Walter Pincus offers some important context:
Nine days ago, the Israeli cabinet reacted to months of demonstrations against the high cost of living there and agreed to raise taxes on corporations and people with high incomes ($130,000 a year). It also approved cutting more than $850 million, or about 5 percent, from its roughly $16 billion defense budget in each of the next two years. If Israel can reduce its defense spending because of its domestic economic problems, shouldn’t the United States — which must cut military costs because of its major budget deficit — consider reducing its aid to Israel?
Last night's GOP debate revealed that the only thing the GOP will never cut is aid to Israel. They're more attached to it than any other item of discretionary spending – a function of Christianism's grip on the party's soul. MJ Rosenberg seconds Pincus:
Aid to Israel is virtually the only program, domestic or foreign, that is exempt from every budget cutting proposal pending in Congress. No matter that our own military is facing major cuts along with Medicare, cancer research and hundreds of other programs, Israel's friends in Congress in both parties make sure that aid to Israel is protected at current levels.
(Hat tip: Adam Weinstein)
The Dish 